The Spider
by Redonkgirl99
Summary: Peter could count the things he knew about The Black Sky on one hand: she's a she. She's Japanese. She's fifteen. She knows a really good nurse. And she could kick his ass six ways from Sunday. Peter Parker/OC. Sequel to The Kitchen.
1. February

She'd over estimated how long it would take for her to get to Queens.

She had intended to arrive closer to eight, but her phone mocked her with seven twenty-three. She huffed slightly as she realized she could've stopped at her house and had dinner instead of coming here straight after work, but she knew it was too late now. She might as well get something to eat while she waited.

No one paid her any heed as she passed them by on the streets and there was no reason they should. She was pretty, but it would require people's attention to be drawn to her and she made sure they never gave her more than a passing glance. It wasn't that she disliked attention; it was that she needed the anonymity.

She pushed the door open of the first corner store that had some promise and scanned the menu. She made a quick decision as she was too hungry to care much about what she was ordering and she walked up to the counter.

"What can I get you?" The man behind the stand said with an amicable smile.

"Number three," she replied with a small smile of her own, reaching into her pockets to pull out the cash to pay for her sandwich.

"Aren't you cold?" The man asked as he rang her up, referencing how all she wore was a long sleeved shirt with her hoodie tied around her waist.

"I enjoy the feeling of frostbite."

He chuckled appreciatively and she let her eyes travel over the interior of the shop. She smiled slightly at a cat resting near the counter as the door behind her jingled open.

"You're not from around here, are you?" The man asked pleasantly as he took her sandwich from his employee, making her wonder if she gave off some sort of vibe. Or maybe it was just the accent.

"Hell's Kitchen."

She would always relish the slight change in people's expressions when she said that.

She took the offered paper bag with quick thanks before she had to skirt around the kid that was headed towards the counter so she could exit. Once she was outside, she took a deep breath of the cold air before walking down the street with no real destination in mind. She knew where she had to be when the time came and she found herself naturally gravitating towards the address that she'd written on a napkin.

A few buildings away from the place, she sat down on a bench with her eyes focusing on nothing in particular as she ate her dinner. Once she had finished, it became more apparent that it was night and the crowd of people on the sidewalk had thinned out significantly.

It was eight twelve when a car without plates pulled to a stop a little ways away from her. Three teenagers exited and headed towards the alleyway next to the address.

She stood and started walking towards where they had disappeared from her view as she untied her hoodie and pulled it on; reaching into the center pocket and pulling out gloves and a black scarf that covered the lower half of her face.

She stopped at the entrance of the alley and took a deep breath.

"Hey."

The three teenagers jumped and she took in their appearances: they matched the description.

"Chris, Jacob, and Brendon?" She said, already fairly certain but the nervous looks they sent each other confirming it "Listen, guys, I know you need money, but robbing a convenience store is a shitty way to get it. Just, walk-."

The closest one, Jacob, whipped out a shotgun and she sighed. She wasn't surprised, but she'd hoped for a different outcome.

"Alright," she relented.

She grabbed the barrel of the gun while he was still surprised and pulled it out of his hands. She then hit him in the face with the butt, which caused him to stumble backwards with blood flowing out of his nose. She dodged a blast from Chris as she threw the weapon she'd taken away and she kicked _him_ in the kneecap, before standing and punching him in the face; kicking away his gun as well.

They weren't fighters, that much was obvious, and the most they landed on her was a punch in the side from Chris, which was swiftly returned twofold. Once she took the guns out of the equation, it was a quick and easy takedown.

The vigilante took a deep breath and flexed her hands slightly as the post-fight stillness settled in the alley.

 _"Holy shit, that was awesome!"_

She jumped and swung around to watch as a person dropped down onto the closed dumpster and stumbled slightly.

"The way you, like, just," he mimed one of her punches and flailed slightly as it threw off his center of gravity. She felt her head tilt as she took in his bright red and blue attire and floundering movements as he ended up just sitting cross legged "You're like, freakin' Black Widow. Except, you didn't really flip around and choke them with your legs. So, maybe not the best comparison. Captain America! But, without his shield, you know? Like, when he loses it and has to fight normally. But you're smaller than him and probably not as strong, so not so good either. Um…"

"Who the _fuck_ are you?"

"Oh, heh, right," he said, his voice cracking slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck "Um, I-I'm Spider-Man. You're, um, not going to attack me, right? Because, I'm on your side. I think."

"I'm…" She trailed off, feeling at a loss for words for one of the few times in her life "Not planning on it."

"Good! Good!" he said, hopping off of the dumpster and making her realize that he wasn't that much taller than her "W-What's your name? I mean, like, superhero name; alter-ego. Unless you want to tell me your real name, because that's cool too."

"The Black Sky," she said slowly, still feeling like she was dropped into an episode of the Twilight Zone.

The goggles on his suit widened slightly, seeming to emulate whatever his real eyes were doing.

"That is _so cool!"_ Spider-Man exclaimed, his movements very animated "How do you even, like, come up with a name like that? That is _badass."_

"I…" She couldn't help but just stand there and watch the way he jumped around as he continued to go on.

"Where did you learn how to do all that?" He asked, reaching an improbable height as he went from the ground to the top of the dumpster in one easy jump "Did you have training? Cause I'm new to all this and could use some-some advice. Hey, maybe we could work together!"

He jumped down and landed in front of her, which she took advantage of and placed her hands on his shoulders to stop him. He realized what she was doing and stilled, for the most part, and tilted his head at her in question.

"How _old_ are you?" She asked, her hands returning to her sides. He was quiet for a moment too long before he stood up straight with his hands on his hips to buff out his chest.

"Eighteen."

"Alright, so, twelve," she said, making him drop his stance and shake his head vigorously.

"I'm-I'm not twelve!" He protested, which made her cock her head in disbelief "I'm… I'm fourteen."

"Okay," she said, nodding as she thought "You want advice? Go home. If the past five minutes have been any indication, you're not cut out for this."

"Hey," he said, actually sounding hurt "You're a kid too. I can tell."

"First of all, I'm fifteen, so I'm older than you," she said, not caring how immature that sounded "Second, I have years of training. Just because you can put on a bright hoodie and a mask doesn't mean you can save people."

"Hey, wait," he said as the Black Sky turned on her heel to walk away "C'mon, you don't even know what I can do!"

She didn't respond and she expected to be able to leave the alley without a hitch, but no sooner did she think that, was there a strange _thwip_ sound that filled the air. She looked down to see a white substance attached to her hand and leading back to Spider-Man.

"Oh, um, s-sorry," he said, sounding a bit nervous at whatever she was going to do to him for doing that.

Instead of replying, she pulled on it and caused him to stagger slightly before he counteracted it. He dragged her a bit so she was closer to him, but he had to dig his heels into the ground to work against her pull.

For a moment, Black Sky let the tug-of-war continue, but she soon reached into her pocket and grabbed her pocket knife. Faster than Spider-Man could react, she cut the line and he went stumbling backwards. She leapt forward to attack, but he was faster than her and he jumped out of the way. For one second, she was very confused to where the hell he went, until her eyes caught on the red and blue figure up on the side of the building, out of her reach.

"How're you doing that?" She called up to him, her hands on her hips.

"I-I just can," he said, making her nod in understanding; she'd met people who just could before.

"And the sticky stuff?"

"Oh, th-that I made," he said, sounding slightly proud "Webs."

"Smart," she said, simply "But, you hanging around up there? Kind of makes you look like a pus-."

"Hey!" He said jumping down in front of her and immediately getting a kick in the chest, albeit a gentler one than usual. He stumbled backwards into the wall, but bounced back quickly and shot another web at her, which she dodged it this time. She jumped out of the way of another web and kicked him in the side, which made him grunt before she dodged his retaliation and went for a punch.

He caught it.

He easily caught her fist in his hand and before she could fully appreciate that, he used his other hand to punch her in the stomach and sent her flying back into the brick; harder than she could ever remember being hit. It was quiet for a brief moment before he realized what he'd done and he dropped from fighting stance.

"Oh my god, I-I'm so sorry. I-I didn't mean-."

"You punch wrong."

"Wh-What?" He asked as the Black Sky straightened up and stretched with a grimace on her face.

"You punch wrong," she reiterated, holding her hand up like for a high five "Try it."

He looked at her for a moment before he gently punched her hand. It was so soft it hardly even classified as a punch, more like a tap.

"Yeah, that's not right," She said, taking his hand in hers and straightening his wrist "If you bend it, you'll hurt yourself. You have to keep straight. Try again."

He hit her again, this time a little bit harder, and she nodded.

"Yeah, that's better," she said, before taking a deep breath and nodding slightly "And, when you're in a fight, don't let them bait you. I didn't even finish my sentence and you were putting yourself out there."

"… Right," he muttered and rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

"But, I will admit… I may have judged you too quickly."

"R-Really?!" He said, perking right back up "Because, I swear I can do this! I-I stopped a guy stealing a lady's purse earlier and-and-."

"But, you need to _chill,"_ she interrupted, her hands up to get him to stop talking "… You're freaking me out."

"Chill. Yeah, I can be chill," he said, putting his hands on his hips and making his body language an emulation of confidence "I-I'm relaxed. I'm chill."

"You're not acting like it, but okay," she said, waving her hand slightly "As for working together, I don't really come to Queens that much. This was special: I had a tip."

"O-oh," he said, sounding disappointed and making her refuse to acknowledge that she felt a little bit bad.

"But," she continued "Who knows, maybe I'll find my way over here more."

"Yeah?" He said, the Black Sky marveling at how quick his mood could snap back.

"Sure," she said, with a shrug as she began to turn away "But, right now I need to go home. So…"

"W-Wait!" Spider-Man called, stopping her in her tracks "Where are you going? I c-can give you a lift."

"Hell's Kitchen," she replied, her eyebrows drawing together "But, you're fourteen. How can you give me a-?"

Instead of screaming, as most probably would, her mouth clamped shut as Spider-Man grabbed her with one arm and lifted them up into the air with his web with other. Her body tensed around him as they swung through the city and her eyes were sealed shut due to the height and the wind that was whipping at her face.

After a few minutes, she forced her eyes open and watched as the lights of New York City rushed by her. She subconsciously tightened her arms around Spider-Man as she realized just how high up they were.

What would've taken her about an hour on public transportation took less than twenty minutes for Spider-Man, who stopped on top of a building and let her go. Black Sky stumbled slightly as she regained her footing and got her thoughts in order. She then leveled her ride with a look.

"Next time, warn me."

"O-oh, right, right, sorry."

.

The door creaked open like it always did, no matter how hard she tried to be quiet. She shut and locked it behind her before walking over to the couch; stripping off the hoodie and long sleeved shirt until she was clad just in her sports bra and her workout pants.

She leaned her head against the back of the couch and shut her eyes as she reassured herself that she wasn't crazy and that what had happened had happened. She could hear the footsteps before she arrived, but she didn't look up until she spoke.

"Jesus, Noriko," Claire Temple said, looking at the bruise developing on her stomach "What happened to you?"

Noriko lifted her head and sent her guardian a confused look.

"I think I just made a friend."


	2. Miss Sky

The sound of a shrill bell woke every student in Midtown High School out of their stupors. Quickly, notebooks and pencils were shoved into backpacks and it seemed like ninety percent of the student body ran out of their classrooms, as if the teachers would make them stay late if they were caught straggling.

Most of them had their thoughts dedicated to what they planned to do after school, some were still running through the lessons they'd just witnessed, and a handful of them were preoccupied with thoughts of their object of affection.

One of them thought of something completely different. All he could think of the entire day was a girl in a black hoodie who called herself the Black Sky.

 _"Luke."_

Peter Parker swung around to smile at his friend, who was holding up a Lego of Darth Vader.

"Hey, I'm Han," he said, Ned rolling his eyes.

"Yeah, sure," he replied, putting the figure in his pocket.

"Did you convince your mom to loan you the money for the Death Star?" Peter asked, turning to continue messing with his locker.

"No," Ned said, disappointed "I've tried everything. Said I'd never ask for anything again. She didn't believe that."

"Yeah, neither do I," Peter admitted, shutting his locker door and turning so he and Ned could start walking down the hallway.

"Do you want to come over?" Ned asked as they headed out the front doors "Video games and pizza?"

"I can't," Peter said, regret plain in his voice "May… needs me."

Peter could've groaned at his own words; why couldn't he think up a better lie than that?"

"O-kay," Ned said, slightly suspicious but not willing to push the touchy subject that was Peter's Aunt "I'll see you tomorrow, I guess."

"Yeah, tomorrow," Peter replied before they split up.

He sighed as he felt guilt settle in his stomach; he'd been turning Ned down for the past two weeks. Ever since he'd met the Black Sky. In fact, he'd gone out every night since then. She said if she was ever in the neighborhood, she'd…

She'd been lying, hadn't she?

Peter's shoulder slumped as he considered that very likely answer. She'd been lying to get him off her back. Why would she want to work with a guy who couldn't even throw a punch right, let alone keep up with her? How would she even find him? She never asked for a number or anything, so she obviously wasn't planning on it.

Peter had made it to his usual changing station and he leaned up against the alley wall as he considered the undeniable truth. She didn't want anything to do with him. Maybe he shouldn't go out tonight; maybe he should just go home and eat Thai and watch TLC with Aunt May.

Oh god, was he pining?

What was it called when you pine after someone because you think they're cool and you want them to think you're cool?

Peter shook off those fairly pathetic thoughts and instead pulled off his sweater so he could pull on the familiar red hoodie. Soon enough, he was wearing his suit and he jumped up onto the wall to climb up to the roof.

He took breath as her surveyed the city before jumping off and swinging. He needed to find something to distract himself from his downer thoughts.

He found that distraction in the form of a guy shoplifting, a lost tourist, and a squirrel that wouldn't get out of a store. That last one had proven to be the worst and Peter hadn't escaped completely unscathed.

The sun had long since disappeared when he sat down on the edge of a rooftop and pulled a bag of gummy worms out of his pocket. He munched on a green one as he contemplated his place in this world of heroes. He knew he was new and didn't deserve one right out the gate, but he felt inadequate when he compared himself to the Black Sky. She had _training._ Where does a person even get that?

He suddenly jerked straight and shoved his candy into his pocket; the sound of an alarm was slicing through the quiet night air.

It didn't take him long to find the origin; jewelry store. Perfect.

Peter landed in front of the broken window and stepped inside. While they didn't notice him, he readjusted his position until he was leaning against the wall.

"H-Hey, Guys."

They whipped around to face him and for a split second Peter rejected all of his life choices as he looked down the barrel of three guns. But, that moment passed and he found himself taking out two guns with webs before he had to dodge the blast from another one.

Maybe jewelry thieves had been a bit ambitious.

He yelped as he barely jumped out of the way of a bullet, but he managed to grab the last gun by the butt and it skidded away. He honestly didn't punch much when he was fighting and instead liked to jump up on the ceiling and throw people around.

That worked for the most part and he found himself easily catching punches and pushing them hard into the wall. He flung the big one back before focusing on the smaller two, one of which was easily knocked out by a well-placed web that landed his head on a display case.

"You know, a worthwhile girl wouldn't demand such an expensive engagement ring," he joked as he dodged one that took a running start at him and webbing him "Maybe you should talk out your relationship pr- _Ooof."_

He hopped off the ceiling while he was delivering his banter but he didn't notice that the big guy had recovered. He received a hard hit to the back of his head and he stumbled and fell forward. Peter fumbled around despite the fact that his vision was a little funny and he found himself watching big guy cocking his shotgun.

Before Peter could try to web it out if his hands or he could try to shoot him, a gloved hand enclosed around the barrel. He watched with rapt attention as a familiar figure in black grabbed the weapon away from the robber and smacked him across the face with the back of it. With a kick to the side of the knee and sick looking spinning kick, big dude was out cold.

She unloaded the gun and dropped it down onto the ground before walking over to where Peter was still laying on his back; the Black Sky holding out a hand to help him back of his feet.

"Are you alright?" She asked, Peter only nodding as he felt at a loss for words.

"T-Thanks," he said finally, feeling his cheeks burn "I kinda—I kinda messed that up."

"You were doing fine," she said, going to remove the ammo from the others "You should just make sure all the weapons are taken out of the equation."

"O-Oh, okay, thanks," he said, not sure how to react to her saying he did good "I-I thought…"

She looked over at him and Peter could see her eyes clearer than he ever could the last time they met. They were dark and were looking at him curiously, like she actually wanted to hear what he thought. He suddenly felt very self-conscious at what he had started to admit and he was very glad that he chose to wear a full face mask.

"Yeah?" She asked.

"I kinda thought you were lying," he admitted, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"About…?"

"About, um, working in Queens. About working with me."

"Well, you were wrong," she said matter-of-factly, but before she could say anything more they both snapped to attention at the sound of police sirens "We should get out of here."

"Yeah, yeah, um…" They both ran outside of the building and Peter looked over at her, remembering what she'd said last time "C-Can I…?"

She frowned as he held his arms out, before it occurred to her what he was asking

"Oh, yeah, sure," she said, wrapping her arms around him without a thought. Peter hesitantly put his arm around her waist and once again thanked god he was wearing a mask before he jumped off the ground and shot a web. She was still pretty tense, but not quite as bad as when he did it unexpectedly.

They swung a few buildings away and he set her down on a rooftop. She regained her bearings before standing up straight and shoving her hands in her pockets.

"What's your plan?"

"My-My what?" Peter asked, the Black Sky tilting her head.

"Your plan. For the night."

"Oh, I was just, I was probably going to go home," he admitted "But, I mean, if-if you want to do something, I can—I can-."

"Chill," she reminded him "If you don't have any plans, you want to come with me?"

"Yeah, yeah, totally!" He exclaimed "What're we going to do?"

"This address," she said, placing a napkin with pen scribblings on it "There's a dude who keeps demanding money or else his guys will destroy the place."

"What a jerk," Peter said before mentally cursing at himself. No wonder she'd thought he was twelve.

"Yeah," she said, not making any mention of Peter's words "So, I've got to stake the place out and then.. Well, you know."

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Totally know," Peter said, feeling that she was giving him a look even though the shadows kept him from seeing her eyes "Um, it's not too far from here. You're cool with…"

He didn't even finish his sentence before she had returned to holding onto him. Peter took a deep breath before he jumped off of the rooftop and swung towards the address. It took less than ten minutes and soon enough, Peter was placing her down on a fire escape on the building opposite.

"Nice call," she said casually, sitting down with her back to the building and not noticing the way Peter reacted to her giving him a compliment. He awkwardly shuffled before she patted the spot across from her and he sat down with his legs crossed. As he got comfortable, she dug through the bag he had not noticed she had slung over back and pulled out a thermos.

"Want some?" She asked, twisting the top off and the smell of fresh coffee hitting his nose.

"Yeah, sure," he said and she poured some.

"Careful, it's hot," she said, passing it to him and he thanked her before pulling his mask up just enough so he could take a sip.

Oh, _god._

Peter didn't _hate_ coffee; he could like coffee sometimes. But, what he liked was what his Aunt May would call coffee milkshakes from Starbucks. This was _black_ coffee. No sugar, no milk, just… _ugh._

God, this was awful. Why did people drink this? Oh, god, she was looking at him. Was he making a face? Oh, god. Oh, god.

"You don't have to drink it, you know; won't offend me," she said, something funny about her tone.

"Oh, thank god," Peter said, passing the thermos cap back to her "I'm-I'm not a coffee person. I like tea with sugar and milk and stuff."

"I probably should've guessed that," she replied, looking away from him and making him wonder if maybe he _had_ offended her. But, he realized she was doing it so she could lift her mask to take a sip without him seeing the bottom half of her face.

"When will they come?" Peter asked, searching desperately for a topic of conversation.

"She said somewhere between eight and nine," Black Sky replied, Peter cocking his head.

"She?" He asked.

"Yeah, Mrs. Alfaro. She runs that place," she said, nodding towards the building opposite.

"You talked to her?" Peter asked, the streetlights illuminating her just enough that he could see how her eyebrows pulled together.

"Yeah. She came and told me what was wrong," Black Sky said "How do you do it?"

"I just, I mean, swing around and stop stuff."

"Sounds _exhausting,"_ she said, taking another hidden drink of her coffee.

"I mean, I guess," Peter said, twisting his hands uncomfortably "It's just, kinda… I wanna—I wanna help people."

Her eyes held something interesting after he said that, but because half of her face was covered, he couldn't get a read on her expression. But, there was definitely something there. Like she was considering him.

But, her eyes slid off of him and that moment passed. It was quiet between them for a little while, mostly because whenever Peter came up with a topic of conversation, he psyched himself out of it.

"Um, B-Bl, Miss Sky?" He finally managed, getting her attention.

"You're kidding, right?" She said, deadpanned.

"Your name's a mouthful," Peter said in an attempt to defend himself.

"Then just Sky," she said "But, don't call me that. I hate that."

"D-Do you want me to call you by your full name?" Peter asked, desperate to get back into her good graces.

"No, you're right. It's a mouthful," she admitted, putting the top back on the thermos and stowing it away in her bag "I don't know. Just not that. What were you going to say?"

"I was, um, kinda wondering h-."

Before Peter could finish his question, the Black Sky was hopping up to her feet, which he quickly emulated before turning to look where she was. Five guys of varying statures and looks were entering the building opposite.

"Are those the guys?" Peter whispered even though there was no way for them to be heard.

"Looks like it," she replied "Let's go to that roof."

It took Peter a moment to realize she was prompting him and he wrapped his arm around her waist to do a quick swing over. She leaned over the edge once they landed, but there was no way to see the interior of the place from that spot.

"I'm going to go inside," she said "Try to talk to them. I'll give a signal if I need you."

"What signal?" Peter asked as she climbed up on the ledge.

"You'll know," she replied.

"Wait, do you need help-?" Before he could finish asking, she jumped off. He ran over to the edge to find that she somehow found purchase in the brick and managed to lower herself to the ground without injury.

"'You'll know,'" Peter repeated under his breath as he paced across the rooftop. How would he know? Did she think he had some sort of training where he would've learned this stuff?

 _If I need you._

 _If._

Peter could've groaned out loud; she didn't set a signal because there wasn't going to _be_ one. She kicked ass, she wouldn't need his help. She had just needed transportation, that's why she found him. Not because-.

There was a sudden and loud crashing sound and Peter ran back to look over the ledge.

On the pavement there was a man flat on his back, groaning in pain before he finally seemed to allow himself to fall unconscious.

Peter swung down, not really knowing what to expect, but he found himself holding the door open when guy went flying towards it. He landed not too far from the other one and Peter poked his head inside to see what was going on.

He couldn't hold back a smile as he watched the Black Sky pummel a guy. But, as she made his face bloodier and bloodier, she didn't notice the skinnier guy in the group scrambling up off the ground and taking a knife out of his belt.

Peter reacted without thinking; the teen wannabe superhero landing a web on the man's hand and jerking him back, away from the Black Sky and directly into the metal doorway. As skinny dude regained his bearings, Peter hopped up onto the ceiling; catching the few ill-fated punches before knocking his head against the doorway again. This time, he fell to the ground: down for the count.

Peter landed on the floor just in time to watch the Black Sky land a final hit and drop the remaining guy. She took a breath before looking over at Peter, who wasn't entirely sure of what to say after all that.

"Told you you'd know."

.

"Is this good?" Peter asked, setting the Black Sky down on a rooftop in Hell's Kitchen "I can get us closer, if you want."

"Trying to figure out where I live?" She asked, her hands on her hips.

"N-No, no, th-that's not—I just, I meant-," Peter stuttered, trying to get his original intentions across before he noticed the way she was looking at him "… You… You're… You're messing with me, aren't you?"

"It's pretty easy," she replied, Peter nodding sheepishly before his eyes caught on something and completely changed his train of thought.

"Your arm."

The Black Sky looked down to the spot on her right arm where her hoodie was ripped, presumably by some knife from earlier. From where he was, Peter couldn't tell if it went any deeper than her clothing, but he still felt genuine concern fill him.

"Oh, yeah. It's nothing."

"Are you sure?" He asked.

"I know a good nurse," she said as if there was a joke he wasn't in on before sighing and becoming serious again"…Thanks for the help."

"Yeah, I mean, of course," Peter said, feeling warmth expand in his stomach "I had fun! I mean, uh, n-not fun. It was totally serious and-and-."

"I had fun too," the Black Sky interrupted, heading towards the edge of the building "See you around, Spider-Man."

"Yeah, definitely!" Peter replied, watching as she jumped over and once again managed to climb down to the ground. He turned away from where she was walking away and started doing a dance; she had fun too! She thanked him! Maybe he actually had a chance to work with this awesome-.

 _"I can see you!"_


	3. The Only One Who Could Ever Reach Me

"Hey, Peter."

Ned raised an eyebrow as his best friend slammed his notebook shut and sent him a guilty smile. Peter had been acting strange for a while, like there was something he wasn't telling him, but he'd never so blatantly hid something from him.

"Were you writing Peter + Liz again?" Ned asked as he placed his tray down on the table next to him.

"I only ever did that the once," Peter replied, his pink cheeks cluing anyone who cared that that was a lie.

"Yeah, sure," Ned said, taking a bite of his cardboard-like piece of pizza. The hubbub of the surrounding lunch room wasn't able to completely fill in the silence between the pair, but before Ned could ask what was going on, his eyes were caught on something.

"Liz got a new top."

Usually, that statement would elicit a reply of dreamy ramblings from his best friend, but Peter didn't respond. Ned looked over to see him holding his notebook open in a way that would block anyone from seeing while he worked on whatever it was he was doing. Instead of saying something to grab his attention, Ned leaned over so he could see what Peter was up to.

 **THE BL-**

"Dude!" Peter protested, slamming the notebook shut and sending him a dirty look.

"What's up with you today?" Ned asked, Peter rubbing his eyes out of weariness as both teen boys were now exasperated.

"Nothing, nothing!" Peter replied, refusing to look Ned in the eye.

"Fine, whatever," Ned bit out, starting to eat with more malice than necessary. It was uncomfortably quiet between the pair before Peter sighed and put down his pen.

"Ned… It's just…" Peter sighed, turning to look Ned in the eye "How do you make someone cool like you?"

"Do you think I'd be sitting over here if I knew how?" Ned replied, still a little bit upset.

"… Dude…" Peter said, slightly hurt

"… You'd be with me," Ned said, cooling down "Why're you asking?"

Peter shrugged uncomfortably before rubbing the back of his neck as he seemed to try to figure out how to approach this.

"I met this girl," he started slowly, immediately regretting the way he worded that.

"Wait, is she cute?" Ned asked, interested now.

"No, no, I mean, yeah, I guess. That's not the point!" He said "She's just… She and I are… I see her around Queens sometimes and we've talked a little. She's _really_ cool, man."

"What kind of cool?" Ned asked "Like, Kristen Stewart cool? Because I have some bad news about your chances with her if it is."

"No, I'm not- I don't have a crush on her, Ned," Peter protested "I just want her to like hanging out with me, because I like hanging out with her."

"What kind of cool?" Ned reiterated, Peter looking around the lunch room as he tried to figure out how to explain.

"Uh, so, you know that part in, um, in Batman v. Superman when Doomsday knocks Wonder Woman back and you think she's going to be hurt but then she just smiles? Like that."

Ned looked at his friend for a long moment, neither of them breaking eye contact before he put his hand on Peter's shoulder.

"You have _no_ chance."

.

The sound of the teacher going over the most missed problems on the math quiz faded into the background. He'd gotten every question right, so Peter wasn't too worried about missing anything. Instead he focused on the page of the notebook Ned had been trying to get a peek of earlier.

 **THE BLACK SKY:**

 **Girl**

 **Fifteen**

 **Japanese**

 **Could kick my ass**

 **Knows a good nurse**

Peter sighed and went to run his hand through his hair before remembering the product he'd put in it this morning. He instead chose to lift his pen to his mouth and chew on the end; he'd rather indulge that bad habit than mess up what almost made him miss his train.

He'd started this list a few weeks ago, right after his first meeting with the Black Sky. The second meeting had prompted the latest addition, but other than that… He had _nothing._

He wasn't doing this to be creepy or anything. It wasn't… he wasn't trying to figure out who she was under the mask. He just… It was what he told Ned; he wanted her to like him. He just didn't know how to do that. So, he approached in a way he knew; he gathered the data.

If he could figure her out, then he could go about getting closer. But, he had _nothing._ When her personality came to mind, all he could think of was "kickass" and "cool." What did she even like?

Peter jolted upright slightly before he removed the pen from his mouth and added another entry at the bottom.

 **Likes black coffee.**

He read over his list and felt the pleasure he'd gotten from writing more slip away.

Ned was right: he had no chance.

.

It was a cloudy day, which was common for this time of year, but Peter wasn't going to complain. So long as it stayed just cloudy, he could be outside being Spider-Man; snow and rain made it all a bit trickier.

"Okay, so you walk straight for two blocks and then-."

The tourists seemed amused by him and one of them snapped a picture as he gave them directions.

"-And then- and then-."

Peter felt his words slow as he felt a tingle on the back of his neck that prompted him to crane and look at the top of the building they were next to.

A figure in black waved.

"Um… turn left and it should be right there," he finished, his words coming out more strangled "I gotta-."

He shot a web and as he propelled to the top he could hear the group yell thanks. He landed in a crouching position on the ledge, next to the person sitting cross-legged.

"Hey," he said.

"Hey," the Black Sky replied.

"Um, what's up?" Peter asked, moving so his legs were dangling over the edge "That was quicker than last time. Not that there's a problem with that or anything, I mean-."

"Yeah, it was quicker," she interrupted, saving him from his rambling.

"So, what—what are we going to do?" Peter asked.

"I didn't have a reason to come to Queens today," she said before she shook her head at her own words "I didn't have a _tip,_ I mean, I have a reason."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah, I want- I want to see how you work," she said, Peter cocking his head "You said you just swing around and stop stuff. Mind if I tag along?"

"Yeah! I mean, no—No, I don't mind. That—that sound's great," Peter replied, a little bit overwhelmed and worried he was going to completely blow it.

"So… what do you usually do?" The Black Sky prompted after a moment of Peter just smiling.

"Right, right, um, we'll probably be going around for a bit," Peter said, hopping up to his feet as he realized that she might not be down for that.

"Would it be easier if I was on your back?" She asked, also standing.

"Um, yeah! Yeah, that would work. Just—just don't choke me," Peter said, but before he could launch into an apology for assuming she would, she spoke.

"Don't worry, I'm good at being a piggy-back rider," she said with a hint of amusement, Peter feeling the knot in his stomach always caused by being with the Black Sky start to loosen slightly. In fact, he realized that he was shaking slightly from laughter, which she noticed "What?"

"Um," he said, suddenly feeling like he'd been caught "I just… I imagined it."

It was quiet for a moment and Peter inwardly panicked; had he gotten too comfortable and completely ruined it?

"It's especially funny when I'm completely stoic."

.

"Oh, oh, here!"

Peter sent a silent thank you to the heavens for supplying him with something to do so quickly. He could swing around for hours without seeing anything, but today it only took around ten minutes. He landed on the rooftop above the guy who was currently trying to force open a car door in a way that made it obvious it wasn't his car. The Black Sky had slid off his back and joined him in looking down at the thief.

"I'll watch," she said, Peter nodding before webbing the man's hand to the car and hopping down onto the pavement beside him.

"Hey, I can lend you some money for a c—Woah!"

He jumped back as the carjacker swiped at him with the vaguely sharp item he'd been using to try to open the door. Peter quickly webbed that hand so the most he could do was clobber him with his hand, only problem was that he was trying to do that now.

"Dude, seriously, calm down," Peter said, now webbing his other hand to the car once it was close enough "That's not _permanent,_ it'll dissolve in two hours. But, um, _hey!_ "

Peter waved his arms to grab the attention of the cop writing a ticket down the street. He energetically pointed out the carjack, which made her give a slow nod. Once she acknowledged him, he gave her thumbs up and shot a web so he could return to the Black Sky's side.

"So, that's what you do all day?" She asked, sounding slightly incredulous.

"Y-yeah, that's basically it," he admitted, shuffling uncomfortably.

"I was _not_ wrong about exhausting."

.

"Why're we stopping?"

Peter open and shut his mouth, unable to find a way he could say this without making himself look like an idiot. The Black Sky sent him a confused look after they had landed on the sidewalk, which was not helping the growing blush that was making its way across Peter's face.

"I, uh, just, hold on."

He did a quick jog over to a tree a few feet away. It wasn't very tall, it was one of those ornamental ones, and it wasn't hard for him to scale up it until the branches were too weak to hold his weight.

"Hey, there, Mister, let me just…" Peter reached his hands up so he could grab the fluffy brown cat currently residing on one of the top most parts of the tree. He managed to get his hands around it, but instead of coming quietly, the cat hissed and attempted to wriggle free "Hey, hey, h— _EY!"_

As he tried to manage the cat, his footing slipped and before he could even consider how much it would hurt to land flat on his back on the pavement, his fall ended. The concrete was softer than he expected and was only located under his neck and legs.

Peter peeked his eyes open to realize that the reason the sidewalk felt so weird was that it _wasn't_ the sidewalk.

"You okay?" The Black Sky asked, setting him upright.

"I-I-." Before Peter could thank her for catching him or say that the only thing that was hurt was his pride, the cat started hissing and clawing at him again "Oh, _god."_

The Black Sky took the cat out of his hands and held the angry creature close to her without hesitating. Even though it dug its claws into her arm, she just gently pet its head and scratched behind its ears. Peter watched as the once irate cat calmed down to the point that it started leaning into her touch and purring.

"I think she was just scared," the Black Sky said casually, Peter nodding as he couldn't make any words come out "Who do you think she belongs to?"

Peter awoke himself out of his shock and looked around the near area, not surprised at all as he spotted a young girl frantically running around with tears in her eyes.

"Twenty bucks it's hers," he said.

"I'm not going to take that bet," the Black Sky replied "Here. I don't think she'll bite."

She seemed to cuddle to cat a little bit closer to her before holding it out to Peter, who accepted it and gave it some more head scratches, but he found himself frowning.

"Why-?"

He cut himself out as he noticed the funny look she was giving him; he got the distinct impression she was smiling under her mask.

"I'm not the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

.

"You wanna—You wanna take a break?"

"Yeah."

Peter thanked god she'd agreed; he may have insane strength now, but carrying her all over Queens for over two hours plus stopping petty crimes was doing a number on him. He'd been fine until the third guy who'd stolen a lady's purse, but that chase had been the one to wear him out. Thankfully, the Black Sky had taken him down singlehandedly, as if she could tell that he was lagging.

He dropped down on yet another rooftop and Peter shuffled as he tried to figure out what to do next. Busting bad guys with her was easy, it was the talking that always tripped him up.

"Do—Are—Are you hungry?" He finally managed, the Black Sky appearing to think about it before nodding.

"I-." she cleared her throat as she slid her backpack off "I brought sandwiches. If you'd like one."

"Y-Yeah, sure," Peter said, the mental image of the Black Sky making a sandwich nearly setting him off the way piggyback riding had.

"I didn't really know what you like," she admitted, pulling out two wrapped up sandwiches that let him know she wasn't the one who made it "So, I ordered you what I get: vegetarian. It's got lettuce, avocado, cucumbers, tomatoes, and provolone. Mine's the one without the cheese, so here."

"Thank you," Peter murmured, feeling at a loss for words that she'd done this "… Are-are you vegetarian?"

"Yeah, I, um, I've been trying to keep death out of my life in general," she said, something rushed in the tone of her explanation "I've also been trying to minimize dairy and eggs and stuff. Harder than meat, though."

"Yeah, I can imagine," Peter murmured, unwrapping his sandwich and pushing his mask up so he could take a bite "Oh my god. This is great. Where is this from?"

"Latimore's. In Hell's Kitchen. I helped the owner out with some guys demanding protection money and Mrs. Latimore gave me a free sandwich. I think it was a trick to get me addicted, 'cause I can't stop going there," she said before her eyes widened "Oh, I forgot."

Peter watched her pull two thermoses out of her bag; one was the one from the coffee incident and one was new. She passed him the one he didn't recognize, which he took probably slower than he should have. He unscrewed the cap and raised it to his lips so he could figure out exactly what she'd brought for him.

Tea with sugar and milk.

"You didn't really specify how much of each," she said as she removed the wrapping around her sandwich "So I made what I like and then added way more."

"This is perfect," Peter said, not entirely sure how to react to all of this "I… Thank you. Very much."

"You've been helping me out," she tried to brush it off, but refused to look him the eyes as she said it.

She set her backpack down next to her before reaching inside to pull out her phone; moving the ear buds that had been wrapped around it so she could check the screen.

"W-What do you listen to?" Peter asked before he could think about how that was a dumb question.

"What?" She asked, Peter realizing there was no way out of this one so he pressed on.

"Music. What do you listen to? 'Cause I can imagine you listening to, like, super hardcore stuff to prep for fighting or indie stuff that most people have never heard of or-."

 _Billy Ray was a preacher's son  
And when his daddy would visit he'd come along_

Peter's mouth shut, but the music kept silence from falling over them. The Black Sky's mask kept him from telling, but he was ninety-nine percent certain she was smiling in amusement.

 _When they gathered around and started talkin'  
That's when Billy would take me walkin'_

"This is what I was listening to last," she said before shrugging and holding the phone in a way that Peter could see the songs "But there's some of what you said."

But, instead of noticing the varying music, all he saw was the name of the playlist.

"Who's Luke?" He asked "Is-is he your boyfriend? You gotta boyfriend named Luke who gives you song suggestions?"

Peter nearly jumped as an unfamiliar sound came from his sometimes partner; she was _laughing._

"No, no," she protested, giggles still in her voice "Luke is a friend and he kind of has something going with C—my—my mom. He sent me a list of suggestions because she mentioned I was looking for music to listen to."

"Oh, that's—that's nice of him," Peter offered "He's got a good taste in music, so he seems cool."

"Yeah, he's cool," she agreed, breaking off a piece of her sandwich so she could lift it to her mouth underneath her mask "But, he's in prison right now, which sucks."

"… Um," Peter offered, coaxing another bout of laughter from her.

"He was framed. He did bunch of really good things that put him in the spotlight that brought those things to light. Everyone knows he was framed, so he'll get out soon enough," she said with a shrug, Peter chuckling himself.

"You know, that kind of sounds... like…"

Peter's words slowed down as his eyes caught on the familiar tears in the Black Sky's oversized hoodie. He'd originally wondered what had caused that, but then he just assumed it was because she'd gotten into a lot of fights. But, now that he was looking at it, those didn't look like tears from a knife, like on her arm. They looked like…

The Black Sky didn't say anything, but he could tell that she had noticed what he was realizing.

"You're-You're kidding, right?" Peter asked "Oh my god, you're not kidding. You know _Luke Cage?"_

"He's really nice."

"Oh my _god,"_ Peter exclaimed, putting down his food so he could hop around and talk energetically with his hands "He's, like, the coolest person ever! When-When I got my powers, I didn't know what to do with them, you know? I knew I just wanted to help people. And-and Luke Cage and Daredevil are the ones that made me realize that I could just go around doing that!"

"Akuma-san is nice too, but he can get really down on himself."

 _"Oh my god!"_

.

As a familiar rooftop came into Peter's field of vision, he couldn't help the unhappiness that filled him. It'd been a long day and it was really time to head home, but dropping off the Black Sky was making him feel down. They'd… They'd actually talked today and she was…

As his thoughts were completely flooded with memories of a few hours earlier, his mind was taken off of what he was doing and he found himself misjudging his landing.

It wasn't the first time Peter landed face first on the rooftop, but it was the first time he did it while he had someone on his back. After the initial shock and slight pain, Peter hopped up to see the Black Sky pushing herself off the ground with one hand while the other one covered her mouth. A small part of him noticed that now that her hood was down, he could see her brown ponytail.

"Oh god, I'm so sorry," Peter apologized frantically "I, just, I get distracted and-and- are you okay?"

"Um," the Black Sky said, raising her other hand to jerk her hood back up before joining her hand on her face.

"Oh no, d-did I break your nose or something? Are you bleeding?" Peter said, started to freak out more and more.

"No, no," she said, still not moving her hands "My scarf…"

"What?" Peter asked before it hit all at once "Oh, oh, hold on! I'll—I'll-."

He quickly turned around and scanned the rooftop. Thankfully, with his enhanced vision, he was able to easily pick out the black piece of cloth lying on the gravel. He quickly retrieved it before holding it out to the Black Sky with one hand over his goggles.

"I'm not looking, I promise," he said, feeling the piece of material pulled out his hand and waiting as he heard sounds of her returning it to its rightful place.

"You can look."

Peter moved his hand and looked at how the Black Sky was practically back to her normal self; a few strands of hair framing her face were the only difference.

"I'm _really_ sorry," he reiterated, everything had been going so well and then this had to happen.

"It's no big deal," the Black Sky replied, reaching up and gently squeezing Peter on the shoulder "Don't worry about it."

"Thanks, Black Sky," he murmured, the girl in question looking like she was smiling underneath her mask.

"You really should come up with something to call me."

Peter nodded and rolled back and forth on his feet as he considered all the names that went with the Black Sky.

"Um, how about Luna?" He offered, the Black Sky cocking her head.

"Luna means moon," she said, sounding slightly confused.

"Every black sky has the moon, right?" Peter offered, quiet falling between them for a moment, which made Peter second guess his suggestion.

"Okay," she said after a moment "But, if you call me that, then I get to call you Taiyou."

"What does that mean?" Peter asked, the Black Sky giving him a look as she headed towards the edge of the roof "No fair! You gotta tell me."

"It means Sun, dummy!"

.

 **THE BLACK SKY:**

 **Girl**

 **Fifteen**

 **Japanese**

 **Could kick my ass**

 **Knows a good nurse**

 **Likes black coffee**

 **Vegetarian**

 **Has brown hair**

 **Knows Luke Cage**

 **Knows Daredevil**

 **Likes Son of a Preacher Man by Dusty Springfield**

Peter put down his pen with a sense of accomplishment; not everything that had happened tonight could be put into a column, but he still had plenty of things to add. The helplessness he'd felt at school had disappeared; he no longer felt like he was set up to fail. Sure, he'd made an idiot out of himself quite a few times, but she brought him a sandwich and she'd remembered what he'd said about tea. She wasn't completely done with him. This partnership… It might work.

"Peter, dinner time!"

Peter snapped out of reverie by the sound of Aunt May and he straightened up in his seat.

"One second!" He called back, picking up his pen to add one more entry before heading to the kitchen table.

 **Nice**


	4. Busy Intersections and Szechuan Chicken

"Listen, I get it; times are tough and you guys need money. But I can't let you hurt people. Please, just walk away. Don't make me do this."

Noriko Temple AKA the Black Sky sighed as the ringleader of the little gang raised his piece and pointed it directly at her head.

"Don't make me do _this,_ Bitch."

"Hey!"

A familiar sticky substance attached to the gun and jerked it up into the sky, which caused four of the people standing there to look up while the fifth just rolled her eyes indulgently.

"That's not a very nice thing to say."

The man that had just been waving a gun in her face lowered his head to look at her with an expression that asked if he was _really_ seeing a dude in red and blue pajamas stuck to the wall above them. Noriko smiled in reassurance, despite the fact he wouldn't see that, and reeled back to give him the sucker punch of his life.

The feeling of someone's jaw cracking under her fist was so familiar that she hardly even registered it. Instead, her mind focused on how Spider-Man had disarmed two more of the men before he had to jump out of the way of the shots from the last one.

Noriko vaulted over the man holding his face with blood streaming out from under his hands and she slammed into the side of the armed man. With surprise on her side, she quickly grabbed the gun away and took out the clip; the man who was sneaking up behind her got a web that knocked him into the wall while the other one got hit in the face with the unloaded gun.

Noriko returned to the man she'd disarmed and elbowed him hard in the face, once again feeling the bones break, and punched him in the gut. Finally while he was bent over in pain, she kicked him hard in the head and he fell to the ground unconscious.

She turned just in time to receive a punch in the side from the man she'd nailed with the empty gun. A grunt was the only outwardly reaction she gave before she punched him right back, which was quickly followed up with a hit to his junk. As most men did, he fell to his knees and she rammed his head against the wall.

He slid to the ground just in time for Noriko to watch Spider-Man ram into the original guy into the wall. He joined his friends on the ground of the dirty alley and her partner landed across from her.

"If I ever get in a fight and you can't think of any quips, are you not going to help?"

Spider-Man laughed that bubbly laugh he had before he replied.

"I can _always_ think of a quip. Style is half of the job, you know."

"Sure it is, Taiyou," Noriko said, reaching into the pocket of the ringleader and pulling out his cell. She tapped in the three numbers and smiled slightly as she watched Spider-Man web each of the guys to the ground, just in case.

"911, what's your emergency?"

All Noriko said was the address before placing the phone on the chest of one of the guys. The pair ignored the dispatcher's voice and Spider-Man put his arm around Noriko so he could launch them up to the rooftop before swinging a little bit away.

The familiar gravel of a New York rooftop crunched under the two teenagers' tennis shoes. Noriko stretched out slightly, like she always did after a fight, and Spider-Man rubbed the back of his neck as they both caught their breath.

"Hey, Luna?"

"Hm?" Noriko replied, looking back at Spider-Man.

"You okay?" He asked "I heard you get hit and… it didn't sound so good."

"Fine," Noriko reassured him "You just hear too much."

"Tell me about it," Spider-Man muttered "The couple a level down is, um, mhm."

Noriko felt a laugh leave her lips before she could stop herself.

"Do you wanna move?" She asked "Or do want _me_ to move and you…"

Noriko laughed again as Spider-Man rolled his eyes overdramatically enough that she could tell despite his mask. She reached into her pocket as she was still giggling to grab her phone and make sure that Claire hadn't text her. She hadn't, but something else caught her eye.

3:15

"Shit," she muttered under her breath "I gotta go home."

"Something wrong?" Spider-Man asked, Noriko shaking her head.

"Just… It looks like I'm not sleeping tonight."

.

Noriko had been absolutely silent entering her apartment, not even the most attentive of listeners would've been able to hear her footfalls. Even getting naked was done with care; placing her clothes on the sink instead of just dropping them onto the rug. But, she couldn't hold back the sigh that left her lips once she turned the handle and hot water rained down on her.

For a moment, all she focused on was the feeling off the night rinsing off her body and swirling down the drain. But, she soon reminded herself that she actually had to wash herself and she reached up to run her hands through her hair before grabbing the shampoo.

As she rubbed it into her hair, her mind drifted to the evening she'd just had. It was the sixth time she'd worked with Spider-Man, not counting their first meeting in the alley. Each time, it got easier and easier to be around him and that clearly went both ways, since he could talk to her without stammering every other word.

The start had been rough, of course it had; trust was a precious commodity she couldn't dole out to every random person with above average abilities and a mask. But, Taiyou… Noriko would swear that that boy hadn't ever had a single bad thought in his life. Innocence and enthusiasm were rarer than anything out here and Taiyou had that shit in surplus.

As Noriko rinsed the bubbles out of her hair, she couldn't help the smile that overcame her face as she recalled the time Taiyou had spent twenty minutes helping an overworked suburban elementary school teacher keep her students together for their field trip to the Met. It had been primarily him being mobbed by a throng of children; all who wanted to know what his powers were and whether or not he knew their favorite Avenger.

She mindlessly scrubbed the rest of her body, thinking of the time she'd spent with Taiyou; some of it due to tips that sent her to Queens, the rest because… sometimes it was just nice to be around someone else like her. Young, wanted to help people, and _did._ It was nice to have someone who understood and-and had gone through similar things and…

Noriko slowed her movements with the washcloth and her fingers instinctually found the spot slightly lower than the center of her chest. The spot where a rough straight line in her skin would always serve as a source of both curiosity and condemnation.

She could tell herself those things all she wanted, it wouldn't change the truth.

Taiyou wasn't anything like her.

No one was.

.

From the moment Noriko turned off the water, she could feel the difference in the apartment. She toweled herself off and pulled on the blue and floral robe she'd gotten for Christmas. Once she grabbed a comb and started pulling it through her hair, she left the bathroom and followed the soft noises coming from the kitchen.

She paused in the doorway and didn't say anything for a long moment, just observed as coffee was poured into two mugs.

"Good morning," Claire said, looking up to send her a tired smile before focusing on returning the pot to its rightful spot.

"Did I wake you up?" Noriko asked, wondering if maybe she wasn't as stealthy as she thought.

"I was already awake when you started your shower," Claire responded, crossing the distance between them and holding out one of the cups "Wow. You, uh, you look like shit."

"Thanks," Noriko replied as she took her mug, only partly sarcastic due to that fact she knew she was right. The black eye she'd been sporting for the past few days was still very present, plus she hadn't slept in the past twenty-six hours and probably wouldn't have a chance for another nine hours or so. All in all, Noriko was quite certain what Claire said was true.

"I picked you up more concealer yesterday," Claire said, pulling one of the chairs out from the kitchen table and sitting down as it groaned in protest.

"On, thanks," Noriko said, now without a hint of sarcasm; she forgot she'd been running out. Bruises were an occupational hazard she needed to hide before going out into the world. It only took one Good Samaritan to look into her home life and everything would unravel.

"Yeah," Claire murmured, looking down at her cup before leveling Noriko with a serious gaze "You're not going to go out tonight, right? Everyone needs sleep. Even you."

"Yeah, I'll stay in," Noriko agreed, already feeling tired.

"Good," Claire said, sounding relieved that she hadn't had to fight her on that before she sighed "Can we talk?"

"I thought we were," Noriko said, Claire giving her a sarcastic look that made her walk forward and slide into the seat across from her "Yeah, what?"

"I've been thinking about this fall."

"It's June third," Noriko replied, her brow furrowed.

"I know," Claire replied, sending her a look before sighing again "I was thinking that you should go to school."

Silence filled the kitchen as Noriko cocked her head in thought at Claire's words. Finally, she lifted her mug to her lips to take sip before answering.

"Why?"

"Education is important," Claire offered, Noriko becoming confused again.

"I already have one."

"Yes," Claire relented before going on "But, you haven't had the American high school experience."

"Isn't that supposed to suck?"

"That's not…" Claire buried her face in her hands for a second before speaking again, her voice gentler this time "I just… I want you to have a life. I want you to-to be in your own clique and to have crushes and to go to parties and to make out with boys. I want…"

"You want me to be normal."

The quiet that filled the kitchen was uncomfortable now as Noriko's words hung heavy between them. Claire rubbed her eyes before sitting forward in her seat with her arms on the table.

"No, I don't. I wish that you could be, but I know that that's not possible. I wish you didn't go out every other night to get shot at, but I know that's something that you have to do… I'm not asking you to lie and act like you're normal and to give up being the Black Sky. I'm just asking you to try being a teenager."

The silence following it wasn't uncomfortable or confused, it was thoughtful. Noriko looked down at her coffee as she considered Claire's words.

"You don't have to decide right now," she said, Noriko looking up from her drink "Just, think about it… And go get ready, you have to leave soon."

.

"Good morning, Noriko," Mr. Coleman said, accepting the cup of coffee she'd learned to just have ready.

"How are you?" Mr. Diallo asked, taking his as well and adding creamer.

"I think I know what it feels like to be brain dead."

Both of the older gentlemen chuckled at Noriko's deadpanned reply. The teenager had completed five out of six hours of her shift and this last one was proving to be most difficult. Her eyes were heavy and every bruise on her body had chosen to make themselves known as she moved.

"Can I get you two anything else?" Noriko asked, already knowing the answer.

"This is perfect for now," Mr. Diallo replied, Noriko forcing a smile for the two men that she actually did like before walking away to help one of the people who weren't regulars.

There was a rhythm to her job, one she fell into that allowed her to work without using much of her quickly depleting energy. It was around the time she refilled Mr. Diallo's coffee when the door to the diner swung open with a jingle.

"Welcome to—Oh, hey, Deangelo," Noriko said, breaking out of the trance as the familiar face sent her a smile as he slid into a booth "The usual?"

"You know it," he replied, Noriko scribbling down his order on her pad "You look rough."

"Thanks, man," Noriko replied, walking back to put the order in and to get him a Coke. After giving the young couple near the door their check, she returned with Deangelo's drink "Got anything for me?"

"Nope," the older teen replied, unwrapping a straw and sticking it in his drink "But, I talked to this chick and I think she'll be coming in sometime. Something about her dad."

"Abuse?" Noriko asked, the vigilante in her snapping into gear.

"Nah, she seemed worried about him. Got in deep maybe." Deangelo shrugged before he took a sip.

"Well, it's a good thing she didn't come in today," Noriko observed "'Cause all I can do right now is faint on criminals."

Deangelo laughed as Noriko walked away to help another customer. She regained her rhythm as she worked and it wasn't long until she was picking up Deangelo's burger and fries and placing it down in front of him. He was too engrossed in whatever he was watching to even look up as she did it, which made Noriko roll her eyes.

"You're welcome," she said, Deangelo's eyes darting up to her before down to his screen.

"Dude, watch this shit."

Noriko huffed but couldn't hold back the small smile as she bent down to see whatever it was that Deangelo was so interested in. She leaned in slightly as her interest was reluctantly piqued by a car careening down a street of what looked like New York. As it headed towards a busy intersection, Noriko began to wonder if maybe Deangelo found horrible car crashes amusing.

Then, a streak of red and right before the car T-Boned a bus, it _stopped._

Someone _caught_ it.

"Go back."

Deangelo did as she requested and went back a few seconds, this time pausing just right to get a good look at that red.

Noriko's breath caught.

Taiyou.

.

Miss Soledad had known something was up when she asked to skip out fifteen minutes early. But, she hadn't said anything and had just given their usually goodbye hug before Noriko practically ran out.

Her hands twisted her scarf over and over as she tried to will the train to go faster. Finally, it pulled into her stop and she hurried off onto the streets on Queens. She had enough piece of mind to duck down an alleyway to pull on her hoodie and scarf before she went looking for a certain arachnid, but it was evident in the way her hair hung in her face and the way her mask was crooked that it had been a quick and sloppy job.

The familiar feeling of climbing a creaky fire escape did little to calm Noriko's nerves as she made her way up to the rooftop. Once she hopped up and the gravel crunched under her feet, she took a running start so she could jump to the next one. Contrary to what Taiyou probably believed, she wasn't some kind of omniscient being who knew where he was at all times. He was just very loud and colorful.

But, as she jumped from roof to roof, she began to feel panic start working its way up her throat. Maybe the reason she couldn't find him was because… She _needed_ to find him.

After what felt like hours but was probably only minutes, Noriko stopped. The burst of adrenaline she'd gotten when she'd seen that video was wearing off now and she was painfully aware that the last time she slept was over thirty hours ago. She paused and ran her fingers through the loose hair under her hood as she tried to figure out what the hell to do next.

"Hey!"

Noriko swung around to see a familiar red and blue clad teenager standing a few feet away from her. Spider-Man put his hands on his hips in an open way and rocked back and forth on his feet as he spoke.

"You wouldn't _believe_ what..."

His words petered out as Noriko walked forward and without a word wrapped her arms around him. It took him a minute to get his bearings but when he did, he enthusiastically returned the hug. Noriko could've laughed out loud; she should've known Taiyou was cuddly.

After a moment, Noriko regretfully pulled away from the warm embrace, but kept her hands on his shoulders, which he responded to by placing his hands on her biceps.

"Hey," he said again, this time much softer.

"Are you okay?" Noriko asked, making him confused.

"Yeah, of course, why?"

"I saw that video of you," Noriko said, quite casual for someone who'd just given a surprise hug "I was worried."

"Really?" Taiyou asked, sounding legitimately surprised "You worried about me?"

"Of course," Noriko replied, confused as she let her hands slip off of his shoulders and fall to her sides.

"Because we work well together?" He guessed, while not removing his hands from her arms.

"Because you're my friend."

"Wait, really?" Taiyou said, straightening up slightly "We're friends?"

"Do you think we're not…?" Noriko asked, wondering if she misjudged this partnership. But, before she could delve too far into that, Taiyou's grip on her biceps tightened fractionally and he pulled her into another hug. This one was more energetic than the last one, plus he pulled away quickly, making it _significantly_ shorter.

"Sorry, sorry," he said, removing himself from touching her in anyway "G-Got excited."

Noriko couldn't help the small chuckle that left her lips, and it was if that product of amusement released any anxiety she still had. And, with that, every bit of her exhaustion returned to her. Her shoulders slumped and her limbs grew heavy as she took a deep breath.

"Y-You want to go patrolling or whatever?" Taiyou asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I… I would. But, I gotta go home," Noriko said regretfully "I need sleep."

"O-Oh, yeah, yeah, totally get it," Taiyou responded as if it was no big deal, even though Noriko could read that he was a little disappointed "Y-You want a ride?"

"It's fine," Noriko said, shrugging "You're busy."

"I'm never too busy for my friend."

.

The moment Noriko's feet touched down on the familiar drop-off rooftop, she knew it was going to be a rough time getting home. They were only a few blocks away from her building, but the thought of moving her limbs was abhorrent to her right now. She just had to remind herself that she'd been through worse than this.

"So, I-I'll see you later," Taiyou said, Noriko smiling before her sleep-deprived brain came up with a half-baked thought.

"Hey, you go to school, right?"

"Yeeeah?" Taiyou responded, sounding confused which was a fair reaction.

"What's it like?" Noriko asked, Taiyou cocking his head.

"Um…"

"I mean, just, like, do you enjoy it?" Noriko asked, absentmindedly noticing how thick her accent got when she was half asleep.

"Not-Not really," he admitted "I like learning and stuff. I-I'm smart. But, I don't really like it."

"Why?" Noriko asked, Taiyou seeming to become really uncomfortable as he shuffled slightly and looked anywhere but her.

"O-Oh, you know, just, I've got a lot of friends and it's hard to balance my social life because of that," he said.

"I mean, you're lying, but okay," Noriko said, Taiyou deflating slightly.

"… I'm kinda a nerd," he admitted in a murmur.

"I know that."

"Hey!" He objected "I'm not—It's-… Okay… Other people make fun of me for it, though."

"Oh," Noriko said thoughtfully "Well, for what it's worth, I think you're a giant dork. But you're also pretty cool."

It was quiet for a moment as Noriko's words seemed to legitimately affect Taiyou. Back when they first met, she would've taken this as her cue to leave, but she knew now that sometimes he needed a little bit of time to collect himself.

"You… You think I'm cool?" He finally said in a small voice, Noriko just shrugged instead of giving a verbal response "C-Can we hug again?"

Noriko felt her body shake with a small bout of the giggles before she stepped forward and wrapped her arms around Taiyou, this time he hugged back as soon as she was near enough. It was quiet for a moment between the two teen heroes as they embraced, Noriko not wanting to break the gentle atmosphere.

"How can a person be a giant dork and pretty cool?" Taiyou said softly as they continued to hug "That's an oxymoron."

"Oh my god, you _nerd."_

.

The front door swung open with a creak and Noriko stepped into her apartment. As she kicked the door shut behind her with her foot, she stripped off her hoodie and threw it onto the couch. She had half a mind to just collapse right there, but her thoughts of sleep were interrupted by the sound of loud footsteps.

"Where the _hell_ have you been?" Claire demanded, Noriko taking a step back from the heat she hadn't been expecting "I've been calling you."

Noriko reached into her pocket and pulled out her phone; the teen seeing that she did indeed have four missed calls.

"Oh, I didn't see that. Sorry," Noriko said awkwardly, attempting to be casual.

"My mom called me saying you practically ran out of the diner fifteen minutes early and that you were freaking out when you did," Claire exclaimed "And then you didn't come home and you didn't pick up when I tried to call you. Do you understand how scary that was?! How I had to sit here not knowing if you were just being an irresponsible teenager or if there was some assassin after you or something! And that there was _nothing_ I could do _either_ way!"

Claire took a few paces away from Noriko as she ran a hand through her hair and the teenager fiddled with her phone uncomfortably.

"I…" Noriko had to clear her throat as if shame had gotten lodged in it "I'm sorry."

Claire turned to look at her and gave a soft huff in response, Noriko turning her eyes down to her shoes. It was quiet for a long moment as Claire cooled down and sighed at Noriko's guilty body language.

"Where were you?" She asked, her voice calmer now.

"Deangelo came to the diner and he showed me a video of Spider-Man catching a speeding car," Noriko murmured, Claire sighing slightly as she put it together before she finished "And I left early to make sure he was okay… I'm _really_ sorry."

Claire shut her eyes as Noriko's tone of voice hit a chord with her. Finally, the older woman crossed the distance between them and placed her hands on Noriko's shoulders, which made her look up at her while still keeping her head angled down.

"… I get why you did it. But, you really made me worried. So, just, next time, send a text?"

"Yeah, okay," Noriko agreed.

"Okay," Claire said with a tired smile "Now go to bed, you look horrible."

.

When Noriko's eyes opened again, it was dark. She turned on her side to read the small alarm clock on her nightstand, which informed her that it was eight forty-five. She laid back on her pillows and took a deep breath as she considered if she wanted to go back to sleep right now or not.

The sound of her door opening broke her from her thoughts and she looked up to see Claire standing in the doorway.

"Thought I heard something," she said, her voice gentle enough to not disturb the just woken individual "Feel better?"

"Yeah," Noriko replied, the word more of a grunt than anything else.

"Good," Claire said, entering the room and turning on the lamp next to the clock. As light flooded the room, Noriko buried her head under her covers and groaned loudly, to Claire's amusement "C'mon, sleep's important, but so is food."

At those words, Noriko poked the top of her head out from under the covers and sent Claire a look that made her laugh.

"Food?" She asked, that word setting off the realization that she hadn't eaten in while.

"Mhm," Claire said, holding up a bag full of something that smelled delicious "Vegan Chinese."

"Seriously?" Noriko asked, sitting up fully.

"Why would I lie?" Claire asked casually, pulling out a white box and handing it to her "Mock Szechuan Chicken."

Noriko took it with a large smile on her face and quickly tore into it with the chopsticks Claire passed her from the bag. Soon, the two women were both sitting cross legged on Noriko's bed and eating their dinner.

"Have you thought about this fall?" Claire asked right as Noriko put a large amount of rice into her mouth.

"Um…" Noriko said through her full mouth, chewing and swallowing quickly before continuing "Not really."

"Yeah, that's not surprising," Claire said, shrugging "It's been an eventful day."

It was quiet again as Noriko polished off the rest of her chicken. This time, though, it wasn't because she was hungry and wanted to eat more than talk. It was because she thinking about something. Something that had been in the back of her head for a while.

"I've been thinking," Noriko started, Claire looking up "About Spider-Man."

"I'm sure you have."

Noriko's brow furrowed and she looked up from her empty container at the words Claire had said under her breath.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Noriko asked, legitimately confused.

"Nothing," Claire said, louder now but with a funny tone "Go on."

"… I've been thinking that maybe I should just tell him who I am," Noriko said, still suspicious of Claire's words and voice but plowing on anyway.

"Oh, is that so?"

"Why're you talking like that?" Noriko asked as a small smile tugged at the corner of Claire's lips.

"Talking like what?" She said in the same voice.

"Like _that."_

"This is how I talk," Claire said as she picked up the garbage and headed towards the door, Noriko getting a little frustrated now "Always. Not just when you bring up Spider-Man and talk about bringing him sandwiches and tea so he'll like you."

"What—Why—?" Noriko asked, Claire pausing in the doorway "I don't understand what's going on."

"Oh, that's _abundantly_ clear."


	5. Divided We Fall

Gabrielle knew she stuck out like a sore thumb.

She'd never been to this place before, even though it was a perfectly nice diner. But, she hardly admired the establishment around her as she was too busy feeling like every regular in the building was sending her looks. She didn't know what it was that made her so easy to pick out, even if she was hunched over slightly and sent little looks over her shoulders every so often; it wasn't like she was obvious about it.

Maybe this entire place was in on whatever that kid had been telling her about. Something about this place solving all her problems. It sounded like bullshit, even when she now, but… But what could it hurt? She was desperate enough to consider trying to find the Devil of Hell's Kitchen or _something._ She needed… She needed.

She jumped slightly when coffee was suddenly filling her mug; she hadn't asked for a refill, but she probably looked like someone who needed another cup. God knows she felt like it.

"Are you okay?"

Gabrielle looked up and took in the face of her waitress for the first time; she'd hardly given her a passing glance when she asked for a cup of coffee and nothing else. She could tell from when she first spoke that she was Japanese, but nothing in her voice could prepare her for the way she looked. She seemed to be in her mid-teens, only a little bit younger than the woman she was serving. Her hair came down to a little bit above her shoulder in chestnut waves that framed her pale, oval face. The rest of her was very much concealed; her clothes, while professional, were baggy enough that no one would be able to get any read on what was going on under it.

All of that wasn't surprising, what had thrown Gabrielle for a loop was her eyes. They were dark in color, but that's not what had caught her attention. She saw what every other person who'd come into this diner at their wits end had seen in this young waitress's eyes.

Power.

"I…" Gabrielle started, feeling her anxiety about being here start to melt away "I need help."

"Tell me about it," the waitress replied genuinely, if a little casual.

"I… My dad…" She looked down at her mug and took a deep breath to steady herself.

"Can I sit?"

The woman already sitting on the vinyl booth nodded and the waitress placed the coffee pot down before sliding in across from her. It was quiet for a moment before Gabrielle realized that she was giving her all the time she needed to gather herself.

"My dad, I think… I think he's going to do something," she admitted.

"Something?" She replied evenly.

Gabrielle took a deep breath before leaning back against the booth and looking her dead in the eyes, even though her own were watering.

"Something bad."

Suddenly, the teenage girl's even expression changed. No longer was it solemn and concerned; now a smile pulled at her lips and her entire face lifted with it. But, even though everything about her had lit up, that power in her eyes remained. Only now it was accompanied by a softness Gabrielle never thought would be able to go hand in hand with it.

"It's a good thing something bad is my specialty."

.

Noriko quickly cleaned up Gabrielle Reed's dishes as her thoughts were very far from the diner. Tomorrow night, one guy, and that bank she passed every day on the way to work. It was arguably one of the easier gigs she'd had, but something about Gabrielle…

She had made sure that she knew that her father wasn't a bad man, that it was just… a bad situation. She didn't elaborate completely, but she had explained that he'd lost his job and was desperate for a way to support his family.

Noriko sighed as she considered the nature of criminality as she wiped the table; the sound of the bells over the door jingling to alert her that somebody had entered the diner.

"Hey, sit wherever you—." Noriko looked up from her table and to the person standing in front of her "Oh, Foggy. Hey."

Foggy Nelson smiled as he picked up on the surprise in Noriko's voice. He moved forward to pull her into a tight hug that she returned with just as much enthusiasm. Once the pair pulled back, they exchanged wide smiles for a second before Noriko spoke.

"My shift is over; I was just about to head out."

"Yeah, I know," Foggy said, keeping his smile even though Noriko could see something behind his eyes "Buy you lunch?"

.

"Hogarth, Chao, and Benowitz boy taking me to an expensive vegan place."

Foggy chuckled at Noriko's light teasing as she smiled as well. The waiter had left to put their orders in about ten minutes ago and the pair was enjoying the sunlight that came with outside seating.

The teenager sipped on the mango smoothie Foggy had insisted was perfectly okay for her to order, even though she'd felt a little weird knowing he was paying. But, as she said, he had that powerful law firm money now, so she didn't feel that bad.

"You know," Noriko said casually as she swirled the straw in her drink "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were getting me in a good mood."

The relaxed atmosphere disappeared and she knew she'd hit the mark. She'd known there was a reason that Foggy had come to the diner; why he'd asked Claire when she got off. Something was up.

"Is it Luke?"

Foggy looked up in surprise at Noriko's guess before he quickly responded.

"No, no. He's fine. The case is fine. The justice system is just slow."

"Matt?" Noriko tried again, Foggy shaking his head.

"He's retired. For good, this time."

Noriko opted to not say anything about that. She might not have been at this game as long as Matt, but she knew you didn't just retire.

"… All my papers are…?"

"You're fine," Foggy reassured "No one's gone poking around in that and even if they were… You're fine."

"Then what's wrong?" Noriko asked, Foggy leaning back in his chair and rubbing his face. It was quiet for a moment as he gathered himself. Finally he returned to sitting normally, but his eyes were on something else.

"You hear about that?"

Noriko turned in her seat to see the TV inside the restaurant. Even though she couldn't hear it, she recognized what the news was showing; the same thing that Mr. Coleman and Mr. Diallo had been talking about the entire day.

"The Avengers splitting up?" Noriko asked, turning back around in her seat "Of course."

"Do you know why that happened?" Foggy asked, Noriko frowning as she thought about it.

"Kind of. Those accords. Stark and Romanov for and Rogers and Wilson against," she supplied "Something about accountability to the world governments."

"Yeah, in theory," Foggy said, leaning in slightly so none of the other patrons could hear "I got my hands on a copy of those accords."

"How?" Noriko asked, her brow furrowing "I thought it was all secret."

"I know someone. Someone who was there. During all the chaos of the Vienna bombing, they sent me one to look over."

"Who?"

Before Foggy could reply, their waiter returned and the pair sat back as he gave Noriko her panini and Foggy his sandwich. Only once he was gone did the pair return to speaking, both ignoring their lunch for the time being.

"I can't really say," Foggy admitted "But, I know that it's the real deal. Which is terrifying."

"Why?" Noriko asked, Foggy sending a sideways glance at the other people before continuing on.

"I stayed up all night reading that thing. It says if an Avenger goes against it, which means intervening without the okay of the UN, they are subject to whatever punishment the UN sees fit. Which implies that if Captain America jumps in a burning building, he could go to jail. And that's not even the worst of it," Foggy said, running his ringers through his hair "It suspends the fifth through eighth amendments and the Geneva Convention. You know-?"

"Yes, I know what the Geneva Convention is," Noriko cut him off, feeling a little bit snappy due to this information "But, I don't know why you're telling me this."

"I know what you've been up to, Noriko."

The teenager didn't reply to Foggy's simple words, she just studied his expression to see what exactly he was going to say.

"I'm going to tell you to stop, but I know that has never worked," Foggy said before sighing and letting silence fall between them as the young girl considered that more people than she thought knew about what she got up to after hours.

"… There's still no reason to tell me this," Noriko said, her voice quieter now "I'm not an Avenger."

"… The accords are a precedent. Vigilantism is on the rise across the country and the government doesn't like it. It won't be long until there are laws like this that affect _everyone_. Even people who have never fought crime a day in their life, but have powers," Foggy paused to sigh heavily "Hell, they might even be able to argue that people like the Devil of Hell's Kitchen falls under the accord's jurisdiction."

Noriko sat back in her seat as she considered Foggy's words: vigilantism and powers… well, she knew someone who hit both requirements.

"Listen," Foggy said, catching her attention again "This isn't me trying to scare you off of what you've been doing. Even though I'd really like it if you didn't, if you're going to… I just want to make sure you have all the information. That you do this while knowing exactly what can happen if you get caught. I don't want to hear about how you got locked in some high security cell and they threw away the key."

It was quiet for a moment before Noriko nodded slightly, which made Foggy smile.

"And, if you ever do get arrested and by some miracle they let you have your phone call, you know my number."

"Thanks, Foggy," Noriko murmured, smiling slightly.

"Yeah, whatever," Foggy said with affection in his tone "Eat your panini. I'm not paying seventeen bucks for you to ignore it."

.

"So, is tonight the big night?"

Noriko rolled her eyes as she zipped up her hoodie before she turned to properly show Claire how unamused she was by her words. Claire was not thrown off by Noriko's dirty look and she continued to smile indulgently.

"Maybe," she said after a moment, turning back to where her stuff was on the table "I don't know. We've got a lot to talk about."

Claire's amusement slipped away as she was reminded of the gravity of what Noriko did. Just because the people of Hell's Kitchen and Harlem supported her didn't mean the police wouldn't slap handcuffs on her the moment they got the chance.

"You're going to tell him what Foggy told you?" Claire asked as Noriko pulled on her gloves.

"He should know," she replied, obviously trying to be casual "It affects him even more than me."

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Claire murmured before a smile began to work its way on her face again "Maybe he'll take off his mask and you'll be able to see if he looks as 'adorable' as he acts."

"I said that _one_ time."

.

Noriko's spot on a rooftop was causing her to feel the wind way more than she did when she was on the ground. Thankfully, it was a warm night and she actually enjoyed the breeze; it kept her grounded as she waited.

She found that if she stayed in one spot in central Queens, Spider-Man would find her within fifteen minutes. She'd questioned him how he did it and he'd sheepishly explained how his senses were more powerful than the average human and he could usually hear her. He probably thought that that would freak her out, but he didn't know Akuma-san.

She was eight minutes into waiting and she had chosen to stand at the edge of the building with her fists resting on the ledge. Her eyes were shut as she blocked out everything but the sounds directly around her. Since it was quiet and her friend had yet to arrive, she focused on her own rambling thoughts as she tried to figure out how to tell Taiyou.

 _"I've been thinking that it might be—be—."_

 _"If we knew who the other one was we might be able to help if—if—."_

 _"I trust you and I want—want—."_

Noriko opened her eyes and sighed as everything she came up with wouldn't end correctly. Why couldn't she figure out how to say this? This shouldn't be so hard.

Before she could start again, she heard the familiar thwiping sound that heralded her friend's arrival. She took a deep breath as she heard him land on the rooftop and reminded herself to just be honest.

"Hey, Ta-."

Her voice stopped as she took in her friend, except it wasn't, except it was. It was obviously _Taiyou,_ his body language was exactly the same as when he was practically bursting with excitement, but…

"What're you _wearing?"_

 _"Isn't this suit the most amazing thing you ever seen!"_ Taiyou exploded, jumping as he spoke.

"I—I—," Noriko fumbled, not sure what to say. It was different, _way_ different, from the suit she was used to seeing him in. It wasn't a hoodie, for starters, it was a body suit. But, it didn't look like some shit Taiyou ordered off the internet, it looked like something someone with a lot of money would have.

 _"I know!"_ Taiyou replied, not picking up on the fact her lack of words was due to her being unsettled, not impressed "It's _so_ cool! I feel like a _real superhero_ in this thing! Not that—not that people who _don't_ have suits aren't—aren't—."

"Taiyou," Noriko said, interrupting his rambles "Where did you get that?"

"Oh, oh! The most _amazing_ thing happened! The greatest day of my _life!"_ Taiyou exclaimed "I was—I was coming home from school, you know? And it was just, like, a normal day and I didn't expect anything to happen other than doing homework and maybe hanging out with you. But then—but then I got into my apartment and _guess who was there?"_

Noriko didn't even get a syllable out before Taiyou spoke again.

 _"Tony Stark!"_

"What?" Noriko asked softly, Taiyou nodding energetically as he did not pick up on the nuances in her tone.

"And—and he told me he needed my help. _My_ help! So-so he took me to _Berlin_ and he gave me this suit and then I fought with the _Avengers._ Not all of them, though, because, like, Captain America went rogue or something, I don't know. But—But I fought this guy with kick ass wings and a guy with this _sick_ metal arm and I got hit in the face with Captain America's _shield!"_ Taiyou practically shouted, Noriko feeling something very cold settle in her stomach "It was the craziest, coolest thing that—."

"Taiyou," her voice cut through his excited ramblings like a knife _"Why_ did you go to Berlin?"

"To fight with the Avengers, of course!" Taiyou replied "I wasn't going to say _no_ to—."

"Why were they fighting?" Noriko asked, Taiyou starting to pick up on her steely tone.

"Oh, I don't—I don't really know," he admitted, shuffling uncomfortably "Something about those accords, I guess. Mr. Stark said that Captain America was wrong but thought he was right, which makes him dangerous."

"So, you went to Berlin to fight over something you didn't know," Noriko continued, Taiyou rubbing the back of his neck in a familiar way.

"I mean—I mean… I fought with the Avengers," Taiyou said, his voice small "The Avengers are the good guys."

Noriko didn't speak for a long moment as everything Taiyou said sank in and that cold feeling in her stomach began to warm. Not in a gentle way, oh no, it started to _burn._

"Half."

"What?" Taiyou asked, taking a step back while Noriko took a step forward.

"You fought with _half_ of the Avengers and you fought _against_ half of the Avengers," her voice ice cold now as she continued to advance "How do _you_ know you were on the _right_ half? You don't even know what they were fighting over."

"But, I mean, it was—it was Black Widow and War Machine and Tony Stark—."

"Tony Stark," Noriko repeated, that feeling in her stomach like molten lava now "The guy who showed up at your apartment. I got a _theory_ going on right now, Spider-Man, would you like to hear it?"

"I-I feel like you're going to say it either way," Taiyou said, stumbling slightly and turning so she didn't back him up against the edge.

"Bingo. I think that you either didn't even _think_ of asking why you were fighting or you did but decided not to press. You know why? Because you cared more about that suit than that—."

"H-hey, Luna…"

"—Because you wanted to impress Tony Stark more than that—."

"I-I didn't…"

"— And because you cared more about being an Avenger than doing what was right."

 _"Shut up!"_

Noriko took a step back; actually surprised she'd been able to press him to a snapping point.

"You-You're-You're just _jealous,"_ Taiyou retorted, Noriko's jaw slackening.

 _"What?!"_

"Yeah, you're just jealous that-that the Avengers didn't want you! They probably haven't even heard of the Black Sky!" Taiyou yelled, Noriko feeling her own hands curl into fists even though she reminded herself that this wasn't a fight she wanted.

"Do you think I give a _fuck_ about what a bunch of assholes who do nothing but destroy think of me?" Noriko responded "The Avengers _wrecked_ Hell's Kitchen. They're the reason that Daredevil and I _exist._ Because chaos makes criminals."

"You're full of shit," Taiyou replied, still in the process of exploding "Everybody wants to be an Avenger."

"Not me!"

 _"Yes you do!"_ Taiyou shouted, making it seriously hard for Noriko not to swing _"I bet that's why you chose to train in the first place!"_

The rooftop was dead silent for a very long moment.

Finally, Noriko took a few steps closer to Spider-Man, who stumbled backwards until he hit the ledge. When there was only a little bit of space between the two, she stopped; knowing that he could see her eyes and know what she said was the painful truth.

"I never had a choice."

.

Claire was four episodes deep in a Property Brothers marathon when the door to the apartment was flung open and almost immediately closed. Instead of moseying into the living room as she usually did, Noriko's walk was fast as she unzipped her hoodie and unceremoniously dropped it on the ground.

"Hey," Claire said, concerned as she put down her glass of wine and followed after the teenager. Instead of responding, Noriko walked right into her room and slammed the door shut.

It was quiet for a second as Claire tried to figure out how to approach this situation. Finally, she just reached up and knocked.

 _"Go away."_

"What's wrong?" Claire replied.

 _"I don't want to talk about it."_

"Noriko—."

 _"Just leave me alone!"_

Claire sighed as she realized that Noriko needed to cool down before she tried to talk to her. She walked back to the living room, only pausing once before she realized that the sound she was hearing was that of someone kicking a bedframe over and over.


	6. Purple Polish

When Noriko's eyes opened, the first thing she registered was light. For a moment, she considered burrowing down under the covers to block out the sunlight streaming in through her shades, but her mind annoyingly reminded her of the fact that it was Wednesday.

She rolled over to check her phone to confirm what she already suspected, but found that she'd forgotten to plug it in last night, which would explain why her regular alarm hadn't gone off. Instead of getting up to check the time of the stove, she lay back down and rubbed her eyes; what was the point? The sun already told her that she'd slept through most, if not all, of her shift.

"Good morning."

Noriko moved her hands so she could see how Claire was leaning in the doorway with her arms crossed and a concerned expression adorning her face. The teenager propped herself up on her elbows, but her eyes slid off of the worried woman and to the lumps of her legs underneath the covers.

"Morning," she mumbled in response.

"After you got home I called my mom to tell her that you weren't feeling so good and that you probably weren't going to make it in," Claire informed her, causing a small amount of the heaviness on Noriko's heart to be lifted.

"Thanks," she said, still quiet as she sat up fully with her arms loosely slung around her legs.

"You want to talk to me about what happened last night?" Claire asked, Noriko sighing and running her fingers through her hair "Because, I can tell it was bad."

It was quiet for a moment as Noriko looked at nothing in particular and tried to get her thoughts in order. When her eyes returned to Claire, she shook her head slightly and the woman nodded slowly in response.

"Okay," Claire said simply "If you want to, you know where I am."

.

Noriko set the cup on the one free spot on the sill as she settled down in front of the window. In the past two hours, she'd managed to get out of bed and change from her pajamas to sweatpants and a tank top.

And that was about it.

She could feel Claire's concerned gaze as she filled the cup with tap water, but neither woman had said anything. She appreciated Claire giving her space, but she knew if she remained like this for too long, her guardian would eventually step in to have a conversation. Something that Noriko really didn't want to take part in.

Instead of lingering on that, though, Noriko focused on what was in front of her: five pots of varying sizes, all with succulents or cacti in them. It was calming time whenever she did this; whenever she watered her plants. Usually her thoughts would be full of when and how she got each one, but today her mind was far away from that.

She felt bad.

Awful, in fact. There felt like there was a weight in both her heart and stomach. Maybe this is what it always felt like, it's not like she would know. A year ago, she didn't have any friends to lose.

Every moment she second guessed everything she did last night. Maybe if she'd said something different or if she'd acted different this all wouldn't have gotten so out of hand. If she'd been more diplomatic maybe he would've listened to her. But, when he'd talked about the Avengers and Stark she'd felt so… God, she didn't know how to describe it.

Once Noriko had finished up taking care of the plants, she put down the cup and just stared at the little pots that lined up along the sill. Even though she was down and experiencing negative feelings she wasn't accustomed to, she couldn't help the tinge of pride that touched her heart every time she did this. She'd kept them alive.

But, that one good sentiment disappeared and she returned to those same feelings she couldn't quite fathom. Before she could delve deeper into her own upset, her eyes caught on something under one of the pots. She pulled out the piece of paper and recalled how she'd placed it under there what felt like a year ago, but was actually only yesterday. It was one of her order slips from the diner, but instead of food scrawled on it, there was a time, place, and a name.

Isiah Reed  
(Gabrielle)

 _"Shit."_

.

"So, what do you say to spaghetti for—?"

Claire paused in Noriko's doorway, where the teenager was pulling her tank top back on, this time over a sports bra. The older woman's eyes quickly found the familiar black hoodie and scarf on her bed and she sighed.

"… Are you going to talk to him?"

"I'm not planning on it," Noriko replied, grabbing the hoodie and pulling it over her head "I have something I have to take care of."

"You're kidding," Claire said, deadpanned "Noriko, you haven't even eaten anything today."

"I'll grab an apple," she replied casually, wrapping the scarf around her neck and moving to leave before Claire stood in the center of the doorway to block her "What?"

"Going out like this will get you hurt."

"Like what?" Noriko asked, crossing her arms.

"Emotionally compromised," she replied firmly and without hesitation.

"I'm fine," Noriko said, Claire giving her a look "Enough. I'm fine enough to do this."

Claire sighed and removed one of her hands from her hip and rubbed her eyes with it. Finally, she looked back down at the teenager, who could easily get past her if she wanted, but was simply waiting.

"Come _straight_ back."

.

It was just warm enough to make Noriko slightly uncomfortable in her hoodie. She wasn't sure what she was going to do when it got even hotter; maybe she should find an alternative outfit for the summer nights.

The bank was only a few blocks from her place. It was actually quite close to the entrance of the subway she took every morning to get to work. Her feet traveled across the pavement with a purpose which helped her ignore the ever present weight that was pressing down on her shoulders.

She was cutting it close, she knew it. Her feet picked up slightly as she acknowledged that if she didn't hurry, she might have to stop a bank robbery in progress, which wasn't something she wanted to deal with. She didn't need that level of exposure. She pulled her scarf up around her mouth as her tennis shoes thumped against the pavement in a fast but steady beat.

The building was in sight now and her phone vibrated in her pocket, which meant-.

A man took a step outside of the alleyway. He had a black mask pulled over his face and his hand inside his jacket, obviously to conceal something.

Without thinking, Noriko leapt forward and tackled him. They both went flying back into the alley and before he could recover in anyway, Noriko was hopping to her feet with his piece in her hand. She let the clip slip out and threw the parts in different directions. This guy, Isiah, pushed himself up on his fists and he looked towards the woman who stood above him.

"Oh, _c'mon,"_ he said in a way that seemed like it was less aimed at Noriko and more at the universe in general "Of all days?"

"Well, today is the day you were planning on robbing a bank, so, yes, today," Noriko replied, her hands curling into fists as Isiah groaned and stumbled to his feet.

"Every time," he was mumbling "Every time I try to do something, to pull myself back up, something pushes me right back down."

Noriko's stance dropped slightly as she took in the man that stood opposite of her. His shoulders were slumped and his hands hung limply at his sides, he hardly looked like a petty criminal, let alone a mastermind. In fact, he just looked… defeated.

"Listen," She said, her voice gentler now "I'm not trying to push you down. I'm trying to help you."

"This doesn't feel like help," Isiah replied, flailing his arms out and making her tense before she realized he wasn't attacking.

"It is," Noriko said firmly "This will push you down farther than I ever could. You'll probably never come back up."

"You don't know _anything_ about me," he shouted back, Noriko holding her ground no matter how he yelled.

"I know your name is Isiah Reed. I know you were fired six months ago and haven't been able to find a job since. I know you were about to hold up that bank because you'd do anything for your family."

It was quiet for a long moment before Isiah responded, his voice much smaller than before.

"H-How…?"

"And I know that your family would do anything for you, including contacting me," Noriko said, the weight of that statement sending Isiah stumbling back to lean against the brick wall of the alleyway. It was quiet for a little while as Noriko allowed the older man to gather himself.

"How much are they paying you for this?" He finally asked.

"No money. I just want to help."

"I thought all you hero types were in it for something," Isiah offered cynically "For fame and glory at least."

"And for wrecking everything because they create more problems than they solve," Noriko offered, Isiah looking over at her with surprise clearly painted on his features "I'm not an Avenger, Jackass."

Isiah couldn't hold back the amusement that those words filled him with and he actually chuckled, which made Noriko smile as she moved to lean against the wall opposite him. It was quiet for a moment before Isiah spoke again, his voice smaller now.

"I know it's wrong."

Noriko looked up to find that Isiah had removed his mask and his eyes were now glued to the ground. She had gotten good enough at reading people's body languages to pick up on the fact she should just be quiet and wait for him to keep going.

"Stealing. Robbing a bank. I know it's wrong. It's… I got fired and I got five people relying on me to make money. I can't…" He stopped and took a shaky breath "It's been tough."

"I understand," Noriko replied, her voice softer than usual as she reached up to pull off her hood "I've had a rough twenty-four hours. Not as bad as yours, though."

"My problems are worse than a vigilante's?" He asked, still watery but self-deprecatingly amused "I'm fucked."

"Nah," Noriko said, her fingers deftly undoing the knot and letting her scarf fall forward to reveal her bitter smile "Just boy problems."

.

The alley was quiet now as Noriko leaned sideways against the brick with her back to the street. She and Isiah had talked it out; he explained how he'd tried so hard to find a job in the past six months, but no one had been interested and his family was on the verge of being kicked out of their apartment. Once he'd finished, Noriko had written down the phone numbers of multiple construction companies she knew were hiring (their crew members came into the diner sometimes). She didn't try to kid herself into believing it was a permanent fix, but it was better than any other alternative.

After they'd finished, Isiah had smiled and clapped her on the shoulder before saying one last thank you and walking away. He'd left a few minutes ago and Noriko was still standing here as she reflected, not only on this, but on every time she'd ever gone out as the Black Sky.

This was the first time she actually felt like she'd had a positive effect.

Her phone vibrated in her pocket and woke her from reverie.

 _Are you coming home soon?_

Noriko quickly sent off an affirmative and slipped it back into her pocket along with her scarf. She ran her fingers through her hair before turning on her heel to head back out into the world. But she stopped, because a figure blocked the way out.

"Matthew."

Matt Murdock sent her a tight smile before speaking.

"Noriko."

Oh, _boy,_ she was in trouble.

The girl in question swallowed nervously, knowing that he could hear her guilt if he couldn't feel it radiating off of her. She forced a smile out of habit and ran her fingers through her hair again, which caused the brown strands to become even wilder looking.

"What brings you here?" She asked, her voice making it so even someone without the ability to pick up on the nuances of speech would be able to hear how incredibly red handed she'd been caught.

"I wanted to talk to the famed Black Sky."

Busted.

"Matt," she said with a sigh, not even trying to lie.

"What the hell are you doing, Noriko?" Matt replied, his hands tight around his stick.

"Helping people," she replied, moving to walk past him but he stepped in front of her before she could.

"You're drawing attention to yourself," he said, his voice low "There are rumors spreading all over. I heard two lawyers at the courthouse talking about a girl who beats up criminals and calls herself the Black Sky."

"People are talking about me?" Noriko asked, legitimately surprised and maybe a little pleased. Matt grabbed her upper arm and shook her slightly.

"That's not a good thing," he hissed "Sooner or later, you'll draw the attention of the wrong people."

"I can take care of myself, Matthew," she said, hardening slightly as Matt began to annoy her.

"Can you also take care of Claire?"

"Claire is a grown woman," Noriko replied, jerking her arm out of his grip "Now, I'm going to walk out of here and you aren't going to stop me, or you're going to have a problem, Murdock."

Noriko shoved past Matt, who didn't try anything, and she hurried out onto the sidewalk. For a moment, she walked with her hands shoved into her pockets and a sour expression on her face.

"You've been getting tips."

She paused for a second and looked up at the heavens as Matt walked up beside her.

"Were you listening to my entire conversation with Isiah?" Noriko asked, starting off towards her apartment again.

"Most of it," Matt said, a beat of silence between them before he continued "You did good."

Noriko looked over sharply. On the list of things she expected to come out of Matt Murdock's mouth, that was dead last.

"… You really think so?" Noriko asked, Matt giving a small chuckle.

"Yeah, I do," he said, the only sound between them for a moment was his stick tapping against the pavement "You talked that man down from a ledge, Noriko. That's far more impressive than any moves you can do."

"Even that one where I jump and slam a person's head into a table?" Noriko asked, smiles pulling at both of them.

"Even that one," Matt said, a comfortable silence falling between them for a moment "… You mentioned boy problems."

"Not…" Noriko rubbed her eyes and gave a bitter chuckle "Not like that."

"Here I was hoping you were finally doing something normal," Matt teased, Noriko elbowing him in the ribs.

"I am not afraid to hit a blind guy," she said, not seeing the look the woman passing them sent her "It's just… This guy that I partner up with… We got in a pretty bad fight. _Verbal_ fight."

"About?" Matt asked.

"He…" She huffed out a puff of air before she continued "I guess I can tell you the truth. He fought with half of the Avengers in Germany, which is already a fucking problem, but he did it because Tony Stark asked him. Not because he believed in the Accords. He didn't even really know what they were fighting about."

It was quiet for a moment, longer than she'd expected, and Noriko looked over at Matt to see his amused expression.

"What're you smiling about?" She asked, Matt shaking his head slightly.

"I've never heard you swear before," he explained.

"Fine. Laugh at my fucking pain," Noriko said, mostly teasing.

"Your partner," Matt said, getting back into their conversation "Is he prone to throwing aside his morals in favor of fame?"

"No, no," Noriko said, shaking her head "Taiyou really tries to do what's best, he just… He's a bit naïve…"

"What is it?" Matt asked, able to tell there was more to what she wanted to say.

"… I really… I really went off on him… I just… I felt _so angry,"_ Noriko explained, Matt nodding slightly "I don't even know why I felt that angry."

"I do."

Noriko snapped to look at Matt again, her eyes wide this time.

"You do?" She demanded, Matt nodding.

"If anyone would be an advocate for autonomy, it's you." Noriko's brow furrowed as Matt went on "A person's right to make their own choices is something that resonates with you, Noriko. How could it not? And all of these issues stem back to that. You're scared of your friend losing that. You weren't angry at him, you were angry at Tony Stark."

It was quiet for a moment as those words marinated in Noriko's head. What Matt said made sense and the more she thought about, the more she realized she wasn't mad at Taiyou, she was just worried.

"You should try to talk to him," Matt offered.

"… I don't think he'd listen to me," she said softly "He looks up to the Avengers, especially Stark."

"What's he like?" Matt asked suddenly.

"Well… He is kind of naïve, like I said, but that's nice, in a way," Noriko said, looking away from Matt as she described Taiyou "He's… He's _really_ sweet. The first time we met, he could hardly form coherent sentences and he still has trouble sometimes. And he is really trying to help people, I know that. But, he's still very new to all of this, so I try to show him the ropes. Oh, and he has super agility, but he still trips over his own feet sometimes. It's very funny."

Noriko's voice quieted as she lost herself in recollections of working together with Taiyou. The warm feelings those memories usually gave her were now replaced with an icy coldness as she considered the words she and him had screamed at each other.

She shook herself out of those depressive thoughts, although her heavy heart stayed, and she turned to look at Matt.

"Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to confirm something," Matt replied with a small smile on his face, the pair both naturally slowing as they neared the front of Noriko's building.

"Confirm what?" Noriko asked as they both stopped.

"We're here, aren't we?" Matt asked.

"Yes. Confirm what?"

"Well, I'll probably see you again soon. Tell Claire hello," Matt said, starting to walk away.

"Murdock!" Noriko called after him "Confirm what?!"

"Your heartbeat!"

.

Claire ran the pasta through the colander; Noriko should be home soon, if she hadn't been sidetracked by something.

As she put the pasta back in the pot so she could stir in the sauce, she couldn't help but think of her girl out there, all alone. The ever-present fear weighing on her heart was doubled today. Not only was Noriko out there risking her life, she was also doing it while in a severely emotional state. Which meant there was an even bigger chance of slipups, and just one could cost her her life.

Claire turned to grab her phone off the table, but instead of sending a text to ask if Noriko was close, she was greeted with the teenage girl herself.

"Jesus," Claire said, after jumping slightly "I swear you're a ghost sometimes."

Instead of answering, Noriko just shuffled uncomfortably and looked down at the floor in front of Claire's feet. Her body language immediately set off warning bells in the nurse's mind as she was already prepping herself to run and grab the first aid kit.

"What is it?" She asked, Noriko sighing before holding one hand out in front of her to reveal what was in it.

"Can you paint my nails?"

Claire took in the familiar bottle full of glittery purple polish that was resting in Noriko's palm. The sight brought back quick flashes of uncomfortable memories, some of which still hurt, but she knew why Noriko was asking her to do it.

"Sure," Claire replied gently, both women wordlessly sitting down at the table. She waited for Noriko to place the bottle down before she took it to untwist the top and let the intense smell fill the kitchen "I'm reminding you, I'm not very good at this."

"I know," Noriko said, placing her hands down flat. Neither of them said a thing as Claire painstakingly painted each one of her nails. She was actually trying so hard to do it right, she didn't even notice until she was working on Noriko's left ring finger and the girl gave a very audible sniffle.

Claire's eyes snapped up from her work and she realized Noriko had been quiet enough that she hadn't drawn attention to herself until she had tears making their way down her cheeks.

Instead of saying anything, Claire just put the nail polish top back on and moved in to pull Noriko into a tight hug. And, instead of saying anything, Noriko just buried her face in Claire's shoulder and cried.


	7. First Day

"Hold still!"

 _"May,"_ Peter whined in response to his Aunt's direction. She paid his protest no mind and instead snapped another picture of her nephew, who held his hands in front of his face.

"Oh, look at you!" May exclaimed, lowering her phone for a moment to just take in Peter "All grown up and a _sophomore."_

"It's no big deal," Peter said, denying even to himself that he was enjoying his Aunt fawning over him a little bit "It's just more school."

"But, who knows what will happen this year," May said thoughtfully "All of the people you'll meet and the friends you'll make. Maybe even a _significant other."_

 _"Maaay,"_ Peter whined again, this time elongating the vowels enough to amuse May.

"You never know!" She pointed out with a grin.

"I know that's not going to happen," Peter replied, May going him a gentle but playful shove on the shoulder.

"I'm sure there are plenty of cute girls and boys out there dying to go on a date with you," she reassured, Peter shaking his head.

"I don't think so," Peter muttered before speaking up "Besides, I got the Stark Internship. I don't have time for stuff like that."

"Right. The internship," May said, cooling slightly and causing Peter to feel a bit guilty. Every night Peter returned home late and tired, he could easily point to the internship. But, he hadn't factored in how May would react to that and now she had a less than favorable view on the whole thing. She hadn't told him he had to drop it or anything, though, so he was fine for now.

"I should probably go," Peter said, gesturing to the door.

"Just one second, Peter," May said, placing her hands on Peter's shoulders and speaking seriously "You have been so strong, stronger than anyone else could be, ever since…" May paused to take a shaky breath and Peter dropped his eyes to his shoes "And I hope you realize how _proud_ I am of you."

Peter didn't say anything, he couldn't. And, thankfully, it didn't seem like May expected him to. Instead she just pulled him into a tight hug and Peter buried his face in her shoulder. Once they pulled back, May gave him a watery smile, which Peter returned.

"I gotta go," Peter said after a moment as he glanced at the time, May straightening up slightly.

"Okay. Be safe," she said as he headed out the door "I love you. Make friends!"

.

"And if a fight starts that doesn't have anything to do with you, _stay out of it."_

"I know."

"And if someone has a problem with you, do your best to ignore it."

"I know."

"But don't let them push you around. If they get physical, you fight back."

"I know."

"But, not too much. Don't hurt them to the point they're seriously injured. Just enough to make them back off."

"Am I going to school or prison?"

Noriko's words stopped Claire's tirade and soon the older woman sent a small smile and received one in return. For a moment, the pair let the silence stand as they both considered the day Noriko had ahead of her. Her _first_ day.

Claire's expression became serious again and she took a step forward so she could put her hands on Noriko's shoulders.

"Got your backpack?" She asked.

"Yep," Noriko replied, shrugging her shoulders as she did.

"Your lunch?"

"Mhm."

"Your phone?"

"In my pocket."

Claire leaned in closer and her eyes ran over Noriko's face. Only after a long moment of looking did Claire pull back and speak.

"You're getting good with concealer," she said with a bitter humor in her voice as she dropped her hands.

"Yeah, well, that happens when you always have a black eye," Noriko replied before she had to repress the yawn that worked its way up her throat. Unfortunately, Claire picked up on what that was and she shut her eyes in exasperation.

"I told you not to go out last night," she said.

"I know," Noriko said, trying to stave off a lecture "But I helped."

Claire shook her head before she opened her eyes again and sent Noriko a look that held both annoyance and pride. The two emotions Noriko brought out in her guardian the most.

"Sometimes I wonder why I didn't just leave you with Matt," Claire said with a soft playfulness that kept Noriko from feeling any actual hurt. Instead the teenager smiled before responding.

"The king of Catholic guilt would've thrown himself out of a window at this point."

"Well, I'm considering it," Claire said as a smile worked its way onto her expression. The pair smiled at each other for a moment before Claire lowered back down into something more solemn, which made Noriko drop as well.

"I'm proud of you," Claire admitted, making Noriko tense up slightly "I'm proud that you're giving normal life a shot. Especially after everything that's happened."

Noriko's eyes dropped to her shoes and she chose to study them instead of return Claire's intense eye contact. Claire smiled though, before reaching out to pull Noriko into a hug. It took the teenager a moment to reciprocate and when she did, it only lasted a few moments before she pulled back.

"I've got to go," she said quietly, Claire smiling and nodding.

"Okay. Be careful," she said as Noriko headed out the door "I'm proud of you. Don't hurt anyone!"

.

 **MIDTOWN SCHOOL OF SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY**

Here he was again.

Peter took a deep breath as he walked through the familiar doorway and found himself in his second year of high school. He'd hoped that everything that had happened with the "Stark Internship" he wouldn't have to return. But, here he was, walking down the same hallways with the same anxiety settling in his stomach.

He found his locker quickly, thankfully, and tried to ignore the group of cute girls that stood a few feet away from him. As he got to work, all he thought about was how all he had to do this year was keep his head down and not attract any atten-.

"Have a good summer, Penis Parker?"

Peter held in a groan at the familiar voice that was currently laughing snidely. He just needed to ignore Flash. He just needed to keep his head down. Eventually he'd get out of here and he'd be swinging down the streets of New York; he'd be a superhero.

He just needed to make it through the day.

.

 **SAMANTHA REYES HIGH SCHOOL**

God certainly had a sick sense of humor.

Noriko readjusted her backpack and hopped up the front stairs to take her first steps inside of the hallways of her school. She let a small sigh pass her lips as she took in her surroundings. It was about what she'd expected, except louder. Her nose crinkled as she navigated around the students who were far nosier than what Noriko would prefer.

She pushed her discomfort to the back of her mind as she came up upon her locker and took two tries to get into it. She sent a halfhearted thanks to whoever was up there once the door swung open and she let her mind wander to the schedule she'd memorized. If she just stuck to that and kept herself out of trouble, this year would be a breeze.

 _"Fuck you."_

As the familiar sound of a scuffle reached her ears, instead of turning to watch what every other student was captivated with, Noriko shut her eyes shut in exasperation.

She just needed to make it through the day.

.

"Peter!"

The teenager in question felt a smile pull at his lips as his best friend did a quick little jog to catch up to him.

"Hey, man," Peter said "What's up?"

"Nothing much," Ned replied "First class is Chemistry. You?"

"Me too!" Peter said, excited that he was sharing at least one class with Ned, especially since it was one that required him to partner up "Did-did you have a good break?"

"Summer was just one big nap, basically…" Ned admitted, making Peter chuckle "Kind of wished we'd hung out more, honestly."

Peter sighed in regret. That was one part of all this he didn't enjoy. With Spider-Man and certain gaps of time spent feeling gloomy, Peter hadn't gotten to spend much time doing anything he'd normally do during the break. Including hanging out with his best friend. His _only_ friend…

"I'm sorry," Peter said and meant "It's the Stark Internship…"

"Yeah, I know," Ned said, shrugging it off "What's it like working for Tony Stark?"

"It's… It's crazy," Peter said, both teen boys smiling.

"I can't even imagine," Ned admitted, Peter knowing Ned _really_ couldn't imagine what he'd been up to. Before either one of them could say anything more, they both had to awkwardly weave around a group of students that were all huddled up around one phone. As they passed, quite a few exploded into loud excitement at whatever had happened on screen and Peter could hear one of them say to his friend _"How come we haven't heard about them?"_

Peter was filled with an odd feeling, one that made him throw a look back at the group before turning back to Ned.

"Wonder what that was about," he muttered, actually feeling the slightest of spikes on the back of his neck.

"Probably that video," Ned replied casually, Peter frowning.

"What video?" He asked, wracking his brains for anything he'd seen that Ned could be talking about.

"You haven't seen that?"

.

"Hey!"

Noriko ignored the voice that called for someone as she walked down the hall. The teenager instead turned her music up slightly as she tried to drown out the chatter with Run the Jewels. Just as she skirted around a group of girls all surrounding a phone, Noriko felt a tap on her shoulder and she felt her body tense as she swung around.

She didn't know who she expected to see when she looked, but it certainly wasn't this girl. She was slightly taller than her and had a bountiful amount of natural hair that framed her round and very pretty face. She didn't seem like she had some sort of problem with her, in fact she was wringing her hands nervously.

Instead of saying anything, Noriko just sent her a look as she removed one earbud.

"Are you Noriko Temple?"

"Yeah?"

The girl's face elevated as a wide grin spread across it and a lot of her nerves seemed to dissipate.

"I'm sorry. My name's Kiara," she said with smile still affixed "You know my cousin, Deangelo."

All at once it made sense and Noriko readjusted her backpack uncomfortably. She'd told Deangelo to try not to blab her secrets to everyone, only those who he trusted and _needed_ to know. But, she had no way of knowing he was keeping his mouth shut and he may have let things slip to her. That, or…

"Are you the one who knows Thea Gomez?" Noriko asked and the girl's smile grew impossibly wider.

"Yeah, I know her. And I know you."

That did nothing to reassure Noriko and she continued to feel anxiety in her bones, something that Kiara seemed to notice.

"Don't worry. I won't tell anyone," she promised, a bit of the worry drain away at Kiara's genuine words "What's your first class?"

"Um," Noriko said, thinking for a moment "Trigonometry in room 302."

"Me too," Kiara said, heading off in the opposite direction Noriko had been walking "We can sit together."

With her shorter legs, Noriko had to do a quick jog to catch up with Kiara, but when she did, her words spilled from her lips before she could stop herself.

"You really aren't going to tell?" Noriko's eyes trained on her shoes.

"Of course not," Kiara said, sending her a look that conveyed she thought she was being silly "Especially not after what you did last night."

Noriko snapped to look over at Kiara.

.

"I can't find the original, just the news version," Ned admitted as he turned up his phone and held it out for Peter to watch.

Peter leaned his chin in his hands as watched the recording start. It was from a dashboard cam and so had limited view, but he could make out four people. Before he could inquire who they were, the video paused for the newscaster to speak over it.

 _"We see the two officers- Bradley and Reese of the NYPD- standing here."_ Two red arrows coincided with the woman's voice as they appeared over the two men on one side _"And on the left we see two figures. One is a Hell's Kitchen resident Jordan Keller and the other is unidentified."_

Peter observed the two people standing across from the police. They both wore black sweatshirts with the hoodies up, but something in Peter's stomach had started to constrict.

 _"Bradley and Reese both pull out their guns and aim them at Keller and the other. They put their hands in the air and words are exchanged. Although it is impossible to tell what they are saying, it seemed that the unknown is trying to talk the officers down. And then…"_

It was hard to tell what happened first. Maybe the officer's finger tightened on the trigger a little bit too much or maybe the hooded figure moved, but either way, the gun fired. But, the bullet didn't hit anyone because the hooded figure leapt forward and pushed it into the air.

As Peter watched the officers being efficiently dispatched, he felt a horrible twisting feeling in his stomach. He already knew it in both his heart and his head when the newscaster confirmed it.

 _"Keller says she simply goes by the name the Black Sky."_

.

 _"Shit."_

"It's not that bad," Kiara reassured, Noriko not looking up from her place with her head in her hands "They know it was the Black Sky, but nobody knows who that is."

"I should've made sure there wasn't a dashcam," Noriko murmured just loud enough for the teenager sitting in the desk to her right could hear her "That was sloppy."

"Could be a lot worse," Kiara offered "A lot of people are saying the cops were in the wrong."

"And the NYPD?" Noriko asked, raising her head and sending her a look "What are they saying?"

The silence from Kira was the answer Noriko expected.

.

Even on normal days, when Peter was usually pretty hungry at lunch time, the cafeteria food wasn't very appetizing. Today, he only pushed it around with his fork as he was so far deep in thought, not even the appearance of Liz Allan across the room could break him out of it.

 _It's not like you expected her to stop or anything; why is this making you feel so… so…?_

Peter sighed and dropped his fork down onto his tray. Maybe it was just because he hadn't expected to see her. She was usually so shadowy; it was a bit jarring to know the world could see her now.

 _They see the Black Sky. They don't see her the way you got to. They don't see…_

Who _had_ he seen?

It wasn't the stoic and mysterious Black Sky; he'd gotten to see past that. But who had he seen? Had he gotten to see under the mask without her ever removing it? It wasn't like he knew her name or what the lower half of her face looked like. But he knew her hair and that was something nobody else had gotten to see.

He remembered the two moments he'd seen it; once on accident when they'd fallen and once when she willingly dropped her hood to fix her ponytail. He remembered the way he felt the second time vividly. How he'd been so awestruck that she'd do that in front of him, he just sort of froze and stared until the hood was back up.

 _"Christ, Taiyou, have you never seen a woman's hair before?"_

He could practically hear her. The way her accent curled around every word she spoke and how her lower than usual pitch signified the teasing nature of the sentence. He missed that.

The last time he'd spoken to her, her words had contained complete and utter _wrath._ He'd never seen her like that before. And even though those words had hurt him deeply, they weren't the worst. It was the _last_ words she spoke to him; the ones that weren't full of righteous fury and were instead empty. Even when they first met and she'd kept up the stoic façade, she'd never sounded so devoid of any emotion as she did when she'd given him the quickest peek into what was behind her.

 _"I never had a choice."_

Even though it was well over two months after their argument, those words still filled Peter with something cold and unsettling. From the beginning, he'd quickly realized she'd never tell him where she'd learned to do what she did, so he never pushed. But now he was starting to get an idea why she'd never divulged.

And all of this led back to his current situation; the current war that was waging in his head. On one hand, he wanted to go find her and give her a giant hug and hear her call him Taiyou. On the other, they still had a bad, bad, _bad_ fight. The type that the words she'd said two months ago still cut deeply. And even if he wanted to see her, he was still upset with her and what she'd accused him of.

And…

Peter sighed and picked his fork back up to shovel some of his lunch into his mouth.

She probably didn't even want to see him.

.

"Move over, Sofia."

Before Noriko could protest and point out that she could just sit at the end, Kiara had pushed her friend down the lunch table and sat down.

"You don't have to do this," Noriko muttered, taking her place next to the girl who'd been attached to her all day "I can handle myself."

"Did I say that you couldn't?" Kiara replied casually.

"Who's she?" One of the girls who sat across of them asked. Noriko took a quick look over her and everyone else at the table and came to the decision that while a few of them were nice enough, Kiara was the best looking.

"Noriko Temple," Kiara said, giving a look to everyone not to press it. But, there are people who didn't notice or didn't care.

"The chick who fucks with your cousin?" The girl at the end of table with thin blonde hair asked, Kiara sending her a dark look.

"Depends what you mean by that," Noriko replied calmly as she unwrapped her sandwich. The group of people sitting around her snapped to look over at her and she forced herself to keep it together under their gazes.

"What I mean by that is that you two've been fucking," the girl said, something in her voice that made Noriko certain that she didn't like.

"Then no. I'm not the chick that fucks with Kiara's cousin," Noriko replied before looking over at said girl "Has he been saying we are?"

 _"No,_ he hasn't," Kiara said pointedly, before looking over at the blonde "I told you, Mykenzie."

"Sure," Mykenzie replied, rolling her eyes before turning them back and looking over Noriko with a gaze she'd seen on so many white people she talked to "Where you from?"

"Jersey."

.

Peter dodged the volleyball that Flash had definitely been aiming at his head. They weren't even playing on the same game and he was still trying to make Peter look like an idiot.

Peter pretended to fumble with his own ball and the guy on the other side of the net rolled his eyes. Even though Peter knew it was for the best, he didn't like having to act like he couldn't play these sports better than anyone else.

The other team served and this time, Ned was the one to blunder, by tripping over his own feet and missing the ball entirely.

"Parker! Leeds!"

The teenagers exchanged apprehensive looks before turning to look over at Coach Wilson, who was giving them a deadpanned look.

"Switch partners," he said tiredly and the pair shuffled uncomfortably at the prospect of finding anyone else "Oh my god, Leed go with Brown. Parker with Thompson."

 _Oh god._

Flash sent Peter a grin that revealed that he wasn't going to make this easy on him.

"Ready, Penis Parker?"

Peter felt an uncomfortable weight in his stomach but he got into position nonetheless. Even if he didn't like him, Peter had to admit Flash was better at volleyball then Ned was; they'd actually been able to return the ball once or twice. Only problem was that Flash would occasionally spike the ball in Peter's direction with the only purpose of hitting him. And Peter couldn't dodge _every time._

"See that video or are you that out of the loop?" Flash asked after laughing at Peter getting nailed in the side of the head.

"Yeah, I saw it," Peter muttered, rubbing the side of his head.

"Who do you think she is?" He asked "That Black Sky chick."

"Oh, I don't… I dunno," Peter replied, rubbing the back of his neck uncomfortably.

"I see it two ways," Flash said in a know-it-all way "Either she's ugly as sin under that mask or she's hot af."

Usually Peter would've rolled his eyes at Flash's words, but this time he just stilled slightly as a new type of discomfort started to fill his stomach. A sensation he couldn't place but was a million times worse than the anxiety he'd felt before.

"I'm hoping it's the second, of course. I bet if she's hot, she looks like Black Widow or something. You know, sexy face and those toned legs with an amazing a-."

Flash hit the volleyball towards Peter's head, probably hoping he'd distracted him enough that he'd hit him again. But instead of that, Peter caught it in one hand and flicked his wrist. The ball whizzed past Flash's head and hit one of the net stands, causing a dent so large it almost broke in half.

.

"This is insane."

Noriko snorted slightly as she did another sit-up. Although their coach hadn't called for the pairs to switch, most of the teens who were doing the workout had slowed down significantly and were taking large breaks in between each one.

Except one.

"This gotta be your hundredth or something," Kiara added, sitting on Noriko's feet even though she didn't really need a spotter.

"Well, you know," Noriko said, shrugging slightly "I probably work out more than rest of you."

"Yeah," Kiara murmured and it was quiet for two sit-ups "You know other ones, right?"

"Yeah," Noriko confirmed "Cage and the Devil."

"Damn," Kiara said under her breath before speaking up "Did you ever work with any of them?"

"Nah, not with either of them," Noriko said, attempting to be casual about it "I mean, we're all closer to lone wolves than super friends. We'd be at each other's throats."

"Who'd you work with?" Kiara asked, Noriko sending her a look "You said not with either of them. So, who was the person you _did."_

Noriko didn't do another sit-up again and instead propped herself up on her elbows. She looked over Kiara as she considered the entire day she'd spent with her.

"Why're you hanging around me? I know you've got plenty of friends," Noriko finally said "Did Deangelo tell you to?"

Kiara's eyes dropped to the floor as Noriko got the vibe that whatever answer she was about to get was something that she was having trouble admitting.

"… No," Kiara said, her voice genuine "I just… He told me about you and I wanted… I wanted to make sure that the superhero was doing okay. I didn't want you to be alone."

"… I'm not a hero," Noriko said, noticeably gentler. There was no longer any accusation in her expression or voice.

"Keep telling yourself that," Kiara replied, smiles tugging at the two girls lips.

Noriko laid back down and started to do sit-ups again, this time with a more comfortable atmosphere surrounding the pair.

"So, who is it?"

"Who is what?" Noriko asked, Kiara rolling her eyes.

"The person you worked with."

"Well, Spider-Man and I partnered up for a while, but then we got into an argument and I haven't seen him in months," Noriko said, rushing her words even though she couldn't force out her uncomfortable thoughts.

"What'd you fight about?" Kiara asked before rethinking "If you want to tell me."

"Oh, you know, disagreement on getting involved with the Avengers," Noriko said, pushing herself to be casual as she was reminded of the regret that weighed heavily on her heart.

"Imma guess and say you didn't want to," Kiara said, Noriko jerking her head instead of verbally saying yes "So, Spider-Man; our age or…?"

"Younger," Noriko replied "Only by a little bit, I think. I never knew he was under the mask."

"Huh," Kiara said "What's he like?"

"Um, silly. Sometimes on purpose and sometimes on accident," Noriko said, a small smile growing on her face as she remembered the good time spent with Taiyou "He's a little naïve, but he's really trying to help people. Nice. _Painfully_ nice. Complete sweetheart."

Even though Noriko's mind had gone off into memories of Taiyou, she caught the look on Kiara's face. Her eyes were slightly wider and her jaw wasn't as tight as usual.

"What?" Noriko asked, doing one last sit-up and staying upright.

"You have a crush on him."

"What? _No!"_ Noriko denied without even considering it. It was a silly thing to say: people like Kiara and Claire got to have crushes, not her. She wasn't like that. She wasn't a normal person and she didn't have those sort of things. She didn't feel that stuff, not even for Taiyou.

 _"You're blushing!"_ Kiara crowed, making Noriko aware of the heat on her cheeks.

"I'm not—That's not—I—," Noriko stumbled over her words as Kiara began to laugh _"Shut up."_

"I'm not laughing at you," Kiara reassured while she continued to giggle "It's just funny, is all."

"Well, it's not true," Noriko said, significantly grumpier.

"Keep telling yourself that."

.

May signed in at Midtown and didn't notice the few straggling students who gaped slightly as they walked past her. She shifted uncomfortably; she'd only been in this school a handful of times before and each one had been because Peter had gained an academic achievement or something to that affect. Nothing like this.

"Principal Mortia's office is down this hallway, take the first left and it's the second door on your right," the kind woman working the front said with a small smile. May returned it with a strained one of her own. She didn't know much of what happened, but the fact she'd been called was not a good sign.

All of the horrible possibilities started to well up in her mind: maybe he'd gotten hurt or something. She just really didn't know what her timid sweetheart of a nephew could've done.

She found the door quickly and opened it to see Peter sitting across from his Principal, who rose and shook May's hand.

"Mrs. Parker, hello," he greeted, polite enough to help ease May's anxiety. But what helped the most was seeing that her nephew was just fine.

He didn't say anything, though, and she quickly picked up on the guilt in his expression.

"What happened?" She asked before Peter cried out.

"I didn't hurt anyone!"

.

Claire kicked her shoes off as she entered her apartment. It'd been a long day as her mind was miles away from her work and with the young teenager who was doing something she really had no way to prepare for.

She'd worried all day that Noriko would get in a fight or would say something that wouldn't go over well. She just wanted for her ward to have a good, normal school experience and the first day would likely be an indicator.

As she placed down a pizza box from Noriko's favorite vegan place down onto the counter, her eyes found the time on the oven. She should be home any min-.

Claire felt a small smile tug on her lips as she heard the door unlock and familiar light steps on the carpet. A few moments later, Noriko wandered into the kitchen and dropped her backpack down on the table.

"So, how was it?" Claire asked as she grabbed plates.

"It was alright," Noriko replied casually "I made a friend."


	8. Act My Age

"You know, there are better ways to make money,"

All six of the guys whipped around and moved their guns from pointing at the convenience store clerk to the head of the newcomer. Donny swallowed hard as he recognized the black clad figure; she'd been all over the news a week or so ago.

"That construction site a couple blocks away is looking for some guys," she said casually, despite looking down the barrel of multiple guns.

"Get outta here before I blow your fucking brains out," Diego said, overly aggressive to counteract his nerves.

The figure in black sent him a look before she looked around at the other guys, like she was measuring them up.

"Anyone want to do this painlessly?" She asked, jerking her thumb over her shoulder at the door. It was dead silent for a moment before Donny lowered his gun and all but ran away with his tail between his legs. She turned back to the group once he was gone.

"Anyone else?"

Logan couldn't help how his eyes widened as she somehow dodged the shot from Diego's gun. But, it was short-lived, because the next thing he knew he was getting punched in the face. Samuel was next, with his gun being pushed into the air and his gut getting pummeled. Jacob managed to hit her across the face, but he soon found out why that was a bad idea and he dropped to the floor. Santiago received a knee to the crotch that sent him reeling and he didn't even register how Diego got a fist to the face.

One by one, they fell to the ground, but before she could drop every single one, Diego managed to grab her from behind. He threw her halfway across the shop and grabbed her again before she could recover.

The sound of her back slamming against the counter seemed to echo through the partially wrecked liquor store. She didn't struggle that much, even when her breath shortened as the hand around her throat tightened.

"You shouldn't have come here."

"You shouldn't have dropped me here."

She moved faster than anyone could've seen and her gloved hand grabbed ahold of the object she knew was to her right. The heavy weight of the bottle crashed down onto the head of the would-be robber and sent him stumbling to the ground.

She took deep gasping breaths once his hand was gone from her before she hopped off the counter and steadied herself on two feet. After a moment of making sure she wasn't going to keel over, she looked down at the bottle in her hands and quickly read the label.

She looked up to where the cashier was peeking out from the back room. Instead of saying anything, she just waved the hand the held the bottle before she turned on her heel and walked out.

.

"I told you she ain't coming."

Kiara sent a dirty look to the girl who was getting into the backseat of the tiny car with her.

"You just don't want her to," she replied, Mykenzie shrugging shamelessly.

"She's weird."

"No shit talking my weird friend," Deangelo said from his spot at the wheel "And put on your seatbelt. I ain't trying to have a run in with a cop."

"You really think she's gonna be fun to go out with?" Mykenzie asked as she clicked the buckle in, getting silence in return "Do you think she's ever even been to a-?"

The passenger door to Deangelo's car was thrown open and the teenager in question slid into the shotgun. It was uncomfortably quiet for a long moment before she lifted her left hand and Noriko showed off what she was holding.

"Hennessy?"

.

"Look who got all dressed up."

Noriko snorted at the words Deangelo had said just loud enough that she could hear them, but the three girls in the backseat couldn't due to the music.

"Expect me to wear a hoodie and sweatpants?" She asked, looking away from the window and to the driver.

"I didn't think you owned anything else," Deangelo said, Noriko's lips curving.

"I didn't."

The pair of teenagers chuckled as Kiara leaned forward so her head was poking between their seats.

"Hey," she said in her normal cheery vibe "You look so good in that yellow."

"Thanks," Noriko said, tugging on the sleeves of her ribbed bodysuit. Claire had been the one to suggest the style; if she didn't want to show off her abs, then this would make sure. But, it didn't look like she was trying to cover everything; it was also off-the-shoulder.

"We should go shopping together," Kiara added, Noriko's flattered expression souring in a way that made Deangelo crack up.

"That purple nail polish doesn't really go with that yellow, though," Mykenzie interjected, Noriko's eyes flickering to the interior mirror to look back at the girl who'd spoken.

"That wasn't my intention."

.

Noriko's ankle wobbled for a second before instinct kicked in and she was able to stand on the three inch heels. It was a little dangerous as she walked across the grass, but once she was back on the sidewalk, she was able to walk steadily in the direction of the house. Nevertheless, she slowed down to keep pace with Deangelo, who immediately realized she wanted to tell him something.

"So," she started awkwardly "I've never really… been to a _party."_

"Yeah, that's not at all surprising," Deangelo replied, getting a dirty look from Noriko "Don't worry, just stick with one of us. This ain't gonna be hardcore or nothin'."

"Why not?" Noriko asked as they turned to walk up the front door.

"You see this neighborhood?" Deangelo said, waving his arms slightly "I bet the hardest party they've ever witnessed was all about cheese and wine."

"Then why are we here?" Noriko asked.

"'Cause Kiara was best friends with this chick in Kindergarten. But, she moved and apparently she's, like, super smart or something," Deangelo explained "She goes to a genius school now, so all of the people here are gonna be…"

"Losers?" Noriko finished for him as they hopped up the front step.

"Let's go with that."

"Kiara!"

Noriko had gotten somewhat accustomed to Kiara's excitable personality and was not surprised at all when she shared an energetic hug with a girl Noriko assumed was the host. If they'd really been best friends, then they had to be something like her.

"Okay, okay," Kiara said, fixing her hair slightly before turning her body so all of the people behind her get a good look at the teenager "So, these are my friends Sofia, Mykenzie, and Noriko and this is my cousin Deangelo. Guys, this is Liz."

Noriko gave Liz a quick one over; she was pretty in a soft way and fairly tall. It did not surprise Noriko in the slightest that Kiara was friends with her.

"Oh god, you're all out on the porch," Liz said, seeming to remember her manners "Come in, come in."

Noriko kept her even expression despite the thoughts that ran through her mind as she took in the interior of Liz's house. For one, it was filled with other teenagers, which was usually not a situation Noriko enjoyed. But, what really caught her eye was how _nice_ this house was. Probably the nicest house she'd ever been in, which wasn't saying _that_ much, but it make her a tiny bit uncomfortable. She was completely out of her element.

"Okay, so, there's some snacks and drinks over there," Liz said, pointing over to the kitchen "And, um, bathroom's first room on your right upstairs."

"Oh, we brought…" Kiara gestured vaguely back at them and Noriko realized she was referencing to the bottle she still had. Noriko held it out for Liz, whose eyes widened slightly before she realized she was making a face and got it under control.

"Oh, _wow,_ thanks," Liz said, her voice a little bit higher as she took the Hennessey and held it as if it was going to explode at any moment "I'll just put this…"

She hurried away, likely to hide it or possibly to put it with the other drinks, and it was awkwardly quiet for a moment before Deangelo looked over at Noriko and spoke.

"Food?"

"Food."

.

"I can eat a whole thing of Pizza Rolls by myself."

"I know, Ms. Soledad told me," Deangelo replied, taking one of Noriko's and popping it into his mouth; a dangerous practice "Was that the same night you drank a two-liter of Root Beer?"

"I'm a glutton," Noriko said casually, taking Deangelo's Solo cup out of his hands and drinking some of whatever he'd spiked with the alcohol she'd brought. She leaned against the kitchen island and the silence between the friends let her take in the atmosphere that surrounded her, which made her cringe.

"This music is awful," she said bluntly, Deangelo nodding.

"Flash thinks he's a DJ because he has Beats by Dre."

Noriko looked over to the teenager who was standing somewhat near the pair. She didn't look up from where she was digging in the fridge, but Noriko could tell she was attractive in a laid-back kind of way.

"I could go for some Dre right now," Noriko said, the girl humming slightly.

"I'd prefer Childish Gambino," she said, finally looking up to Noriko as she closed the fridge door and walked across the kitchen with a loaf of bread in hand "I don't feel like listening to someone with a history of violence against women."

"How about Chance the Rapper? Glover has said some gross things about black women and sexual assault in his stand-ups."

The teenager turned and gave her a considering look as she dropped a piece of bread into the toaster.

"Michelle."

"Noriko," she replied "Are you making toast?"

"Yes," Michelle said casually "Want some?"

"Sure," Noriko replied and once Michelle's back was turned, she looked over at Deangelo and mouthed _"Normal?"_

 _"Nope,"_ Deangelo mouthed back before shrugging and wandering a little bit away.

"Friends with Liz?" Michelle asked.

"Friend of a friend," Noriko replied "You?"

"Academic decathlon."

"Deangelo said she goes to genius school," Noriko said casually as Michelle shrugged.

"You go to that one on sixth?" She asked "And do you want butter?"

"Reyes in Hell's Kitchen," Noriko replied "Did you see any jelly in the fridge?"

"Do you live in Hell's Kitchen?" Michelle asked "There was some Apricot preserves."

"Yeah," Noriko said "I'll just have it dry, then."

"How's the gentrification going over there?" Michelle asked as the pieces of toast popped up "Are you on a diet or do you just not like butter?"

"Well, the last guy who tried to steamroll over the poor to put up expensive townhouses got his ass kicked by Daredevil, so I'd say that's been stalled indefinitely," Noriko replied, taking her piece of toast "And I'm trying to be vegan."

"I've seen you eat ice cream."

"First of all, Mykenzie, I said trying," Noriko said, sending the girl a look and noticing how she wobbled "Second, how much did you drink? We've been here twenty minutes."

"Don't kill my buzz, Buzzkill," Mykenzie replied, Noriko rolling her eyes and turning away, seeing who she was looking for at the other side of the room.

"Kiara, come get your drunk friend!"

"I can't believe you guys are at this lame party."

Noriko mostly ignored what Michelle was saying and only sent a cursory glance over at the two teens she was speaking to. They didn't stick out as from the rest of the party's population except for the large hat on one of them. They both looked fairly nervous, but Noriko had quickly realized that was the default setting for all of her peers, even if some were better at hiding it.

"You're here too," said the one with the hat.

"Am I?' Michelle asked before moving to walk away, but not before she sent a sideways look at Noriko and nodded slightly. Noriko had the distinct impression that was her sign of respect.

"You don't go to our school."

Noriko looked over at the pair that Michelle had just been speaking to. The one with the hat had just gotten elbowed in the gut for what he'd just said and Noriko could clearly hear what his friend said in response.

"You don't just _say_ that."

Something ice cold ran through Noriko's veins.

"I'm-I'm really sorry," he spoke up, stumbling over his words "He doesn't—He wasn't thinking."

Her veins _themselves_ froze as her mind went on autopilot and responded to this issue without thinking.

"It's alright," she said casually, not seeing how Kiara, who was nearer now, snapped to look at her "I don't mind."

"Oh, good, good," he said, rubbing the back of his neck and making Noriko feel like she might actually throw-up "Um, I'm—I'm Peter—Peter Parker and this is Ned Leeds."

"Oh, I'm-."

Noriko could've gotten on her knees and thanked God right there when the DJ, Flash as Michelle had called him, drew his attention. This gave her a chance to turn on her heel and walk off, but not before her hand grasped the Hennessey bottle once again.

Everything in the party sounded slightly muffled now. Was this what it was like before you fainted? Because that's what it felt like. But, as she finally reached the stairs and started to head up, through the haze she was able to hear one thing from the DJ's microphone.

 _"Spider-Man."_

.

Noriko wasn't surprised when the shower curtain was thrown open and Kiara looked down at her. Instead of sitting up and trying to explain why she was lying flat on her back in the bathtub, Noriko just took another swig of Hennessy.

"You were using your white voice."

Noriko just hummed in response and Kiara rolled her eyes. She placed one foot in the tub and Noriko took the hint to sit up and pull her legs back so Kiara could join her.

"Why?" Kiara asked once she was situated, Noriko just humming noncommittally again "Okay, seriously. Stop being angsty and just answer."

"… That kid," Noriko said, Kiara's brow furrowing.

"You know him or somethin'?"

"I didn't know him as Peter."

It took a moment, but Noriko could see when it clicked. Kiara's expression dropped and she was still for a second before she reached forward and wrenched the bottle out of Noriko's hand so she could take a swill herself.

 _"Fuck,"_ Kiara muttered "That little white boy is the one you gotta thing for?"

"How many times do I have to tell you I don't have a crush on him?" Noriko hissed, Kiara not responding to that at all.

"Do you think he realized?" She asked, Noriko shrugging.

"I don't think so. If he had, he wouldn't have been subtle about it."

"… Maybe… Maybe you should go talk to him," Kiara offered, Noriko shaking her head vehemently as she swallowed more alcohol "C'mon, you'd feel better if you did."

"What would I even say?" Noriko asked "'Hey, remember that chick you only ever knew as the Black Sky and then got into a huge fight with? Yeah, that's me. What's up, man?'"

"I'm sure you could figure something out," Kiara reassured "You're a superhero; you can't handle a little confrontation?"

" _Goddamn it,_ Kiara, stop calling me that," Noriko said, Kiara huffing and sitting up straighter.

"I don't understand why you hate it," she said "You go around in incognito and keep the public safe. You're _totally_ a superhero _."_

 _"Superheroes don't enjoy hurting people."_

The silence that followed that sentence gave Noriko time to reflect on how strange her limbs felt. This must be what being buzzed felt like.

Well, she'd already had this much.

The burning sensation of the alcohol sliding down her throat helped her prepare to face whatever response Kiara could come up with. Noriko really didn't know what to expect; maybe she'd just walk out and never talk to her again. That would be the easiest on the both of them. Then again, maybe she'd go for a disappointed response, which Noriko did not want to deal with right now.

"You're drunk."

Denial. She should've guessed.

"Sorry, Ki, but I'm only tipsy," Noriko said with an edge to her tone "And that doesn't even matter, because that's the truth. I like hurting people. I like to watch people in pain."

"If that was as true as your acting, then you'd hurt everyone, not just criminals," Kiara retorted, Noriko humming a sarcastic little tune.

"Thought about it. But, I've got a whole trunkful of baggage that's making me do different things. None of which is your business, by the way," Noriko said, pointing at Kiara in a warning gesture "I don't need you digging around like you can fix me."

"What makes you think I'd do that?" Kiara asked, her voice sharp now.

"'I wanted to make sure that the superhero was doing okay.' We both know that didn't have shit to do with me," Noriko said, Kiara's jaw clenching "Go downstairs and find Spider-Man. Maybe he'll be the perfect little superhero to make you feel like your special."

Kiara stood suddenly and Noriko nearly laughed; there it was.

"Maybe if you weren't such a heartless bitch, you wouldn't keep losing your friends," Kiara spat as she got out of the bathtub, Noriko giving a fake gasp.

"You were able to see through your bullshit superhero rose-colored glasses and saw the real Noriko. Congratulations," she said "Feel free to leave the party in the huff; I'm gonna walk. Would love to blow off some steam on a mugger."

.

The cold night air was helping Noriko sober up and with that came the regret. While everything she'd said in Liz's bathroom had been true, she couldn't help but cringe at the way she'd said it. She had trouble expressing her emotions well when she was clear-headed; adding alcohol had not made that situation any better.

She'd left the party after a few more swigs of Hennessy and some introspection, mostly to make sure she left _after_ the others. As she'd slipped out, though, she heard how the DJ chanted Penis Parker over and over. She felt kind of bad that she took solace in the fact she wasn't the only vigilante having a rough night.

Peter Parker.

It was a good name; good alliteration. As she thought back to those brief moments of speaking, she realized he'd had a nice face, as far as faces went. And she had to give it to him; he had _great_ hair. He probably styled it, the nerd.

Noriko couldn't help the smile that pulled at her lips; Peter Parker.

 _"Hey, Honey, where're you goin'?"_

Noriko let that smile take over now; she hadn't been lying about blowing off steam and street harassers were the perfect way. She kept walking, though, letting them dig their own graves.

 _"C'mon, Sweetheart, don't ignore us."_

They were closer now and she could tell by their footsteps there was about four, but Noriko just continued on her way.

"Don't ignore us, _Bitch."_

She'd expected those words, but not the hand that gripped her elbow. She wasn't surprised by it becoming physical, though, and she reeled back to give this guy what was coming to him.

 _"Hey,_ that's not nice!"

Before Noriko could land the well-deserved punch, the guy went flying up into the air and others froze, including Noriko.

The harassers stilling gave him a chance to take them out just like he had with their buddy and soon Noriko found herself to be the only one on the sidewalk.

And then Spider-Man dropped down right in front of her.

"Are you okay?" He asked, kind and sincere, just like she remembered. But, _unlike_ her memory, he had an over-the-top New York accent. One that made her realize that he recognized her from the party.

She nodded wordlessly and he seemed to take her shock as a result of what just happened.

"I'm gonna call you a cab. Do you have m—No, of course you don't. You wouldn't be walking if you did. I don't either. Okay." With each sentence, he lost his accent a little bit more "Can I take you home? I mean—I mean, to _your_ home, not _mine._ I mean, you're really pretty and everything, but—wait—I didn't—I _meant_ it, but I didn't mean to—.

"When you say take me home…?" Noriko interrupted, her American accent back in place.

"Oh, like, swing," he said, miming it slightly and making Noriko's lip twitch.

"I would appreciate it," she said, Peter straightening up.

"Okay, where to?"

"Midwest Court Apartments. It's in Hell's Kitchen."

Noriko watched him deflate slightly and she felt a sinking sensation in her stomach as she realized why.

"Oh, heh, really? Weird," he muttered uncomfortably.

"Is that a problem?" She asked, Spider-Man shaking his head energetically.

"No, no, I'll take you. Just…" He sighed "I have a friend there. Well, I'm not sure if we're friends anymore. Long story. Anyway, it's just weird to go back is all."

Before Noriko could respond to that, though, Spider-Man held his arms out for her. She did as he wordlessly asked and as she wrapped her arms around his neck, she felt a comfort she hadn't in a long time.

"Hold on tight."

.

Noriko couldn't help the smile that graced her features as they set down in the fire escape in front of her window. She'd _missed_ that.

"Still okay?" Spider-Man asked, placing his hands on her hips to make sure she was steady, something that felt kind of _nice._

"Perfect," Noriko replied, which made him move in a way that made her think that maybe he was bashful.

It was quiet for a moment before Spider-Man cleared his throat and spoke.

"I guess I'll—."

"Wait," Noriko said, part of her mind _screaming_ at her to tell him the truth and the other just as loudly demanding she didn't.

"Yeah?"

"… Thanks," she said finally "For everything."

"Of course," he replied, Noriko smiling before turning to open her window "Hey, can I ask you a question?"

"Shoot," she said, turning back to him.

"You were at the party. I mean, a party, because your clothes, you know?" He said, Noriko thinking about how lucky he was that he was talking to her "Weren't you with friends or something? How come you were walking?"

"… I was with friends, but I got into an argument with one of them and we left separately," Noriko said, Spider-Man nodding slowly.

"Well, take it from me, just apologize. It's better than losing your friend."

He started move as if to swing away, but Noriko spoke.

"Hey, you got to ask a question, I should get to." Spider-Man pausing and nodding in agreement.

In that moment, Noriko thought of all the things she could ask. Would you apologize to your friend? Would you _forgive_ your friend? Would you like to see her again?

"Do you really think I'm pretty?"

 _"Uhhh,_ I, uhh, I'm—you're—I don't—um."

"Yes or no?" Noriko asked, making it easier on the poor boy.

"Y-Yeah. You're-You're… _you'resuperpretty."_

Noriko couldn't help the wide smile that overtook her features and she couldn't help hearing the sharp intake of breath from Spider-Man.

"For what it's worth," Noriko said "From what I can tell, you're pretty cute, yourself."

"Th-Thanks," he squeaked out, Noriko laughing warmly as she opened her window.

"See you around, Spider-Man."

.

Kiara stirred the cream into her coffee slowly; Noriko had awkwardly served her this drink before going off to help other customers in the diner. Neither of them had mentioned the previous night, but it hung heavily over both of their heads.

"You want, like, a bagel or something?"

Kiara set down her spoon and looked up at her waitress who was looking everywhere but her. One of them would have to breach the topic, and she'd been the one to come here, so it was on her.

"Can you sit down?" Kiara asked, Noriko shrugging and sliding into the booth across from her. It was quiet for a moment before Kiara took a deep breath and spoke "So."

"Yeah," Noriko replied quietly.

"What I said last night was… not good," Kiara said, attempting to get her feelings across but not sure how.

"Yeah, me too," Noriko added "What I said was uncalled for."

"No," Kiara protested "It was. You were right about me. You were right about how I want to feel special and… I was so wrapped up in you being a superhero; I forgot you're a person."

"I still shouldn't have been so… harsh," Noriko said "You were trying to help."

"Can we just agree we both fucked up last night and we both need to be better?" Kiara asked, Noriko smiling slightly before nodding slowly.

"Yeah, I can agree to that."

It was quiet for a moment as they both considered this friendship; a new one in place of the toxic one they'd had before.

"You look tired," Kiara said, Noriko snorting and nodding "Was it all the party or…?"

"Um, well…" Noriko said before heaving a heavy sigh and rubbing her face.

"What is it?" Kiara asked, immediately picking up on the fact something was _wrong_. Noriko dropped her hands and shook her head slowly, as if she couldn't articulate what she was thinking "What happened?"

"You were right," Noriko said, her voice breaking a little "I have a crush on Spider-Man."


	9. WWLD?

The night air of Hell's Kitchen somehow seeped inside of the state-of-the-art suit and left Peter shivering as he swung through the streets. The thought of turning on his heaters didn't even occur to him, though, as his mind was preoccupied with one thing.

 _She thinks you're cute!_

It was stupid, he knew it, but the fact that the pretty girl from the party had said that had made his entire night a little bit better. Before he picked her up, it had been going straight to Hell: first he had to deal with a painful car chase followed by a terrifying dip in a lake, second he was ordered by Mr. Stark to drop it because he "wasn't ready yet" even though he knew he was, and finally he had to listen to how Flash was humiliating him and there was nothing he could do about it.

But, he could hold onto this; a pretty girl thought he was cute.

And that held true, even if he was completely and _utterly_ lost.

Peter dropped down onto a rooftop to regain his bearings. He didn't come to Hell's Kitchen often for obvious reasons, and now he was all turned around. Peter looked down to the street in the hope that he'd see a familiar landmark or something. Surprisingly, his enhanced eyes picked out familiar colors a little bit away.

He'd forgotten that this thing existed, but there it was. Aunt May had taken him to see it back in 2012, when it was first painted.

Originally, everyone had thought that an actual street artist had done it, but a couple years later it was leaked that Stark Industries had had it commissioned. No had really cared at that point; even if the mural had been down as a PR stunt, it was still pretty cool.

But, as Peter dropped down in front of the wall, instead of seeing the Avengers line up posing the way he remembered, he found that someone had graffitied over it. Over each of the Avengers' faces, someone had sprayed black to blot out their expressions. But, there were other lines in other colors, ones that didn't seem to have a reason.

It occurred to Peter that he was standing too closely to see what it was and he took a few steps back to realize that those lines and colors _did_ have a reason.

On the left, the yellow lines connected to form the outline of the upper half of a powerful man's body. He was standing with his right fist in the air and a strong and proud expression on his face.

Luke Cage.

On the right, the red lines shaped together into the outline of a faceless demon. His body was that of a man's, but his head formed into two points; horns.

Daredevil.

In the center, the white lines wove together to create a familiar outline. She too was faceless, with her mouth covered and a hood hanging low over her eyes. Her right hand was just high enough to show the gun she held in it. But, not in the way one held a gun to shoot, but clutched in her grip as a show of power. She didn't need to use it. And she would make sure that no one was hurt by it.

It was the Black Sky.

It was Luna.

.

"Want some of my Funyuns?"

Peter jumped as he was jolted from his thoughts. He'd been thinking about the vandalized mural he'd seen a few days ago. Peter sent his best friend a weak, but grateful smile and reached into the offered bag. In his haste to catch the decathlon team, packing a snack for the ride hadn't even occurred to him.

Quite a few things had happened between the night of Liz's party and now; he and Ned had tracked the bad guys and realized that if Peter came with the decathlon team to DC, he'd be able to make a quick pit stop in Maryland to stop their evil plans. But, throughout all of it, that graffiti had stuck in his mind. And, by extension, Luna had been haunting his thoughts.

As he crunched on the chip, his thoughts switched from musing on Luna to the phone call he'd had half an hour ago. Mr. Stark had installed a tracker into his suit, which meant Happy would see it if he followed those bad guys. And if Happy saw that he was going out of DC, he'd tell Mr. Stark, who would _kill_ him. Mr. Stark had already told him to drop it once; if he found out he wasn't listening...

But, Mr. Stark wasn't doing anything. He didn't realize how crazy dangerous those weapons were. He must think he was overreacting or something. That the reason he couldn't handle it wasn't because of how powerful they were, but because he was just a kid.

He didn't want to admit it, but he was starting to understand more and more Luna's fury when it came to the Avengers. How could he do his job if he had Happy alternating between breathing down his neck and completely ignoring him? It was frustrating beyond words.

Luna wouldn't have this problem. She wouldn't be scrambling for a way to do her job; she'd just get it done. Hell, Luna would've never gotten herself into this situation in the first place. She would've told Mr. Stark to shove it if he'd showed up at her apartment.

But… if she _had_ ended up here in Peter's place…

Peter sat up straight as he considered it. Maybe, if he wanted to get the job done, he shouldn't be thinking like Peter Parker, the high school loser, or Spider-Man, the would-be Avenger. Maybe he should be thinking like _Luna._ She wouldn't ignore those bad guys and she wouldn't put her trust in Mr. Stark's flippancy towards the issue. No, Luna would make _sure_ that those guys wouldn't hurt anyone ever again. That's what he needed to do. He needed to do what Luna would do.

What would Luna do?

 _Chuck that stupid suit. Stark can't track you if you aren't wearing it._

Peter hesitated. That was the easiest solution, but could he really handle these guys without the suit? Besides, he didn't have anything else to wear.

 _Well, if you insist on wearing it… Take the tracker out of it._

Once again, Peter second guessed imaginary-Luna's advice. Could he really take apart the suit like that? It was Stark tech, some of the most advanced in the world. Could he really remove the tracker without destroying it or setting off alarms?

 _You're smart, Taiyou; you'll figure it out. I know you will._

Peter leaned his head against the window as his cheeks pinked slightly. Maybe that last one was less Luna and more wishful thinking.

.

"Um, Peter?"

Peter hummed slightly around the flashlight he was holding in his mouth while his hands were preoccupied with the interworking of his suit. He and Ned had opted to go straight to the hotel room so they could begin working on Luna's plan. Well, Ned didn't really know about that last part.

"Why're we removing the tracker from your suit?"

"Uh," Peter said before popping the flashlight out of his mouth; he knew he had to tread carefully here "Because I've gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move and I don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it."

Although his words had been hesitant and with good reason (Ned didn't quite get this), he couldn't help the swell of something inside of him. Luna would be proud of him, wouldn't she? Probably congratulate him for sticking it to the Avengers. And, while that wasn't what Peter was doing, he probably wouldn't correct her.

"So, you're lying to Iron Man?" Ned asked incredulously.

"No, I'm not lying," Peter lied "He just doesn't really get what I can do yet."

Luna had gotten it. She understood how much he could do and how much he wanted to do with his abilities. Even when he'd screwed up, she would always just explain how not to repeat that mistake.

It was odd; Luna had taught him so much, but she had never felt like a teacher. She was always his partner, even when she was obviously more knowledgeable about their after school activities.

He missed her.

He wished she was here right now. He loved Ned dearly, but he didn't understand why he needed to do this. Why he needed to go behind Mr. Stark's back. Luna would.

Peter found what he was looking for faster than he expected and he pried the small piece of machinery off of his suit.

"Got ya," Peter said before removing the flashlight from his mouth "Alright, Happy, have fun tracking this lamp."

"There's a ton of other subsystems in here," Ned said as he studied his laptop "But, they're all disabled by the Training Wheels protocol."

"What?" Peter hissed as that frustration bubbled back up to the surface. Ned just giggled as Peter moved to look at the screen. Sure enough, Training Wheels protocol was there in all caps.

"Turn it off," Peter demanded, Ned's amusement coming to a sudden halt.

"I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, they're probably blocked for a reason."

Because Mr. Stark thought he was a kid, Peter fumed; he thought he couldn't handle it.

Once again, a familiar thought came to the forefront of his mind.

What would Luna do?

 _"They were laughing at me," Peter said with an audible pout, Luna chuckling slightly as she dragged the would-be robbers back into the darkness of the alleyway._

 _"Well, in their defense, you are wearing a bright red and blue costume," she replied, brushing her hands off as she let go of the last of the criminals._

 _"Nobody laughs at Daredevil," Peter muttered with his shoulders slumped. Luna seemed to stop being amused by this whole situation and she instead moved so there was only a small distance between her and him._

 _"You know why they don't laugh at Daredevil?" She asked, Peter shrugging apathetically "Because every criminal knows Daredevil will kick their ass if given the chance."_

 _Peter looked away to the dirty brick of the alley and shuffled uncomfortably, but Luna placed a gloved hand on his chin to turn him back to looking at her._

 _"If you want to be taken seriously, then don't let them treat you like you're not."_

"I don't need training wheels," Peter said, jumping up to the bed and giving an angry hop "I'm sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It's not cool."

"But, you are a kid," Ned pointed out, Peter scoffing. Luna was a kid, but no one treated her like one. Maybe if Peter did this, then Mr. Stark would realize what everyone already knew about Luna. Treating her like a kid would be a very big mistake.

"Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands," Peter replied.

"Peter, I just don't think this is a great idea," Ned said, desperate for Peter to drop the topic "I mean, what if this is illegal?"

Ned was really reluctant towards this, Peter could tell. There the question was again.

What would Luna do?

 _"You're so easy to bait, Taiyou, it's honestly hilarious."_

 _"No, I'm not!"_

 _Luna swung around the chimney on the rooftop they were staking out from and sent Peter a look that he assumed had a cheeky smile under her mask._

 _"O-oh."_

 _"You know, if you ever manage to get that under control, you could learn to use it," she said, walking in movements that could almost be classified as twirls. Almost._

 _"Use it?" Peter asked, frowning._

 _"Do you think that there's no reason for why the majority of criminals we stop are men?" Luna asked, spinning on her heel to face him "The toxicity is palpable."_

 _"I don't understand," Peter admitted._

 _"With you, all I have to do is question how good of a vigilante you are and you lose all rationality," Luna said "If I bring in questions of their masculinity, criminals just lose it. And when they lose it, they don't think straight, and our job becomes a breeze."_

 _"You're saying to use that?" Peter asked._

 _"If you have the right bait and you know when to cast, why not make it easier on yourself?"_

"Please?" Peter pleaded, bouncing off the bed to kneel down beside Ned "This is my chance to prove myself. Ned, I can handle it. Come on."

"I really don't think this is a good idea," Ned said.

 _"Guy in the chair,"_ Peter said softly, Ned scoffing.

"Don't do that," he said.

"Come on…"

Ned sighed and looked up at the ceiling before typing a few things and disabling the Training Wheels protocol. The suit flashed for a moment and once it stopped, Ned and Peter exchanged a look.

Time to go.

.

Did Luna get to have fun?

That was the thought that ran through Peter's mind as he looked down through the skylight to the group splashing in the hotel pool. Specifically, he looked down at Liz, who he felt farther from than ever before.

But, Luna, did she get to have fun? Did she get to hang out with her friends or was it always the job? Did she get to be with her crush or did the Black Sky always take precedent?

No sooner had Peter thought that did he scrunch his nose up at it. Luna having a crush was a _weird_ concept. She was so different from anyone he'd ever met; it seemed kind of ridiculous that she'd ever have a crush on someone. What would Luna even go for?

Someone like her, Peter's mind supplied; someone who had the same sort of edge to them. Someone who'd been through something similar to whatever had happened in her past. Someone badass like her, who could fight somewhere near her level. Someone who could keep up with her in every sense.

Peter fiddled with his mask as his mind painted this portrait of Luna's perfect significant other. They were dark and powerful and Peter had to shake his head as his brain unhelpfully suggested Bucky Barnes. That was weird; he was, like, six times her age. But, that idea wasn't totally wrong. He could imagine Luna with someone like that in the future.

Someone very unlike… most people.

Peter shook his head again as he tried to force all of those (oddly unpleasant) thoughts out. He needed to focus. He needed to take care of the bad guys. Honestly, that was what Luna would do.

He pulled his mask on in the expectation that he'd be able to swing to the place he'd tracked to them normally.

"Good evening, Peter."

"Hello?" Peter asked as he jumped ever so slightly.

"Congratulations on completing the rigorous Training Wheels protocol and gaining access to your suits full capabilities," the feminine voice said, Peter looking around wildly as displays he'd never seen before appeared before his eyes.

"Uh, thank you," Peter said, trying to get a handle on everything.

"So, where would you like to take me tonight?" She asked.

"I put a tracker on someone," Peter offered "He's—he's a bad guy."

"Tracker located. Plotting course to intercept target."

"Okay, so long as I make it back in time for decathlon, it's fine!"

.

Everything was not fine.

Apparently, "what would Luna do" did not extend to actual combat.

Peter had woken up flat on his back still inside the truck that the guy with the wings had tried to steal from. After he'd come to realize that he had _not_ been kidnapped by the criminals, he'd asked Suit Lady where exactly he'd ended up.

"You're in the most secure place in the Eastern Seaboard: The Damage Control Deep Storage Vault."

So, after confirming that there was no way out other than waiting until the doors opened in the morning, Peter found himself alone with his thoughts and Karen. There were a few things to do, like the refresher course on webs and catching up on homework, but soon enough Peter found himself lying flat on his back on one of the cargo containers. The person that had been lurking in his mind for the past day was at the forefront again, torturing Peter with the same question as always.

"Should I apologize to Luna?"

"Who's Luna?" Karen asked tentatively, Peter chuckling slightly awkwardly.

"She's my— she _was_ my partner. Back before I had this suit, she and I would work together sometimes," he said before his voice got a little bit softer "She was my friend."

"What happened?" Karen asked with a surprisingly sympathetic tone for an AI.

"We got in this really bad argument," Peter said, dancing around telling Karen exactly what Luna thought of her creator "She was really mad and I said some stuff… She was _really_ mad."

"Were _you_ mad?" Karen asked, Peter sighing slightly.

"Y-Yeah, I was mad. But… I think I might be starting to understand what she meant."

"Then you should go apologize," Karen said gently "You sound like you're very sorry."

"Yeah, but would she even talk to me?" Peter asked, sitting up as he spoke "I think I _really_ hurt her feelings. She was… I've never seen her like that before."

"There's only one way to find out, Peter."

Peter really considered Karen's words. It was true that Luna might completely hate him and wouldn't ever want to talk to him ever again, as he suspected. But… maybe she _didn't_ hate him and maybe she _would_ talk to him… He wouldn't know unless he talked to her.

"… You're right, Karen," Peter said slowly "When I get back to New York, I'll find her and apologize. At least then I'll know."

"You should also inform her of your attraction to her."

 _"What?!"_

Peter hopped up to his feet like he'd been zapped by something. Karen spoke again, but this time with confusion evident in her voice.

"Your heart rate was rising exceedingly the more you spoke of her," she said as if it was all obvious "And your pupils dilated by almost fifty percent."

Peter waved his hand in front of his face as if to bat away the analytics that Karen was showing him. But, as they were in his suit, he was forced to acknowledge all of the ways his body had reacted when he thought about Luna.

Heart rate increase, pupil dilation, uptick in perspiration, slight pickup in the release of _dopamine_.

"Oh my god."

He had a crush on Luna.

He had a crush on the Black Sky.


	10. The New Normal

It was like an itch she couldn't scratch.

Noriko shifted uncomfortably and rubbed her neck as if it would make the feeling go away. But, it was much deeper than her skin and it continued to grate on her, no matter how many cautious looks she threw over her shoulder.

"Noriko?"

The teenager in question looked up from her notebook and to where the teacher was looking at her expectantly.

"Y equals seven-z plus three," she said after a glance at the board.

"Very good."

Noriko sighed as the teacher's attention was taken off of her and she could return to her anxiety. Maybe it was just some trauma thing and she was just having an episode. That was the obvious answer.

But, a part of her knew that wasn't the truth.

The bell rang and she shoved the stuff on her desk into her backpack before sliding out of the classroom faster than anyone else. With her shoulders hunched, she made her way down the hallway without sparing a look for the people who passed her.

A hand grabbed her shoulder.

"Whoa," Kiara said after Noriko swung around aggressively "Cool it."

"… Sorry," Noriko said, rubbing her eyes and taking a deep breath "Weird day."

"Huh," Kiara said, giving her a concerned look as they started down the hall again "Well, I know a good way to blow off steam."

"Beat up a mugger?" Noriko guessed.

"I know a _non-violent_ way to blow off steam," Kiara revised, Noriko snorting "Me, Sof, and Mykenzie are going dress shopping. You know, for Homecoming."

"I'm not going," Noriko said as if it was obvious, Kiara sending her a look.

"Why not?"

"I don't want to," Noriko said simply "I have better things to do than seventh wheel all night."

"I'm sure you can get a date," Kiara replied "Just ask someone."

"Yeah, it's that easy when you're the girl everyone's lining up to ask," Noriko retorted, Kiara sending her a look.

"Hey, wait up!"

The pair turned to see a rather cute guy from a couple of their classes, Marquis, slightly jogging to get to where the two girls were standing.

"Gee, I wonder what this is about," Noriko said, leveling Kiara with a witheringly sarcastic look.

"Hey, guys," Marquis said, slightly out of breath once he caught up.

"What's up?" Kiara asked, sending a look to Noriko, who was still staring at her with an unimpressed expression.

"I was just, um, Christ, this is harder than it should be," Marquis said, Noriko's look only intensifying "I was wondering if you'd like to go to Homecoming with me, Noriko."

"Wait, what?"

The shocked looks that had spread across both of the girls' faces was replaced on Kiara's with a smug expression as Noriko floundered for a moment.

"I get this is a longshot, you probably already have a date…" Marquis muttered.

"I, uh, yeah, sure," Noriko finally managed after her axis was thrown off "I'll go with you."

A wide smile spread across Marquis's face and Noriko felt a warmth that wasn't quite like what she'd experienced before, but still pleasant in its own way.

"Great," he said "I'll, um, talk to you later about time and stuff, okay?"

"Sounds good," Noriko said, Marquis sending her one last smile before turning to walk off.

It was quiet for a long moment before the silence was broken.

 _"Well,"_ Kiara said, Noriko already rolling her eyes "Looks like you're going shopping with this."

"Christ on a bicycle," Noriko said with a small smile, managing to ignore that itch for just a little bit longer.

.

"You ladies looking for anything special?"

Noriko held back an eye roll at the overenthusiastic salesperson who was smiling at them in the way one does when the store you work at has the cashier ask if someone was helping you today.

"Homecoming," Kiara said, the salesperson smiling widely as he saw a quick way to a commission.

"Wonderful!" He said "I'm Grady. What are you each looking for?"

"Actually, this is Noriko's first Homecoming!" Mykenzie said with a false excitement as she forced her into the spotlight "She should get the most attention."

"Oh, f—," Noriko started before getting cut off by Grady.

"Oh, that's great!" He exclaimed "You're going to _love_ it. What type of dress are you looking for?"

"Maybe something that shows off her form," Kiara jumped in as she saw how Noriko was struggling "You can't really tell, but she's got a great body."

"Totally," Grady said with a smile "Anything else?"

"Not red."

Grady obviously strained to hold back a look, but Noriko didn't elaborate, even as her own friends sent her looks.

"Not red?" He asked, his smile frozen on.

"It can have some in it, but not a lot," Noriko said simply, Grady nodding after a moment.

"Alright, well, try over here," he said before wandering off into the store to look for dresses that weren't red.

"Whatch you got against red?" Mykenzie asked, Noriko stretching slightly as the sensation returned.

"Bad experiences."

.

Noriko ran her fingers across the fabric of the dresses without really seeing what was hanging on the racks. Her mind was a million miles away, but not working on the puzzle of today's discomfort as she had been earlier. It was with something that made her uncomfortable in a very different way.

"How about this one?"

Noriko awoke from her daze to take in the purple offering from Kiara, who looked hopeful but not too much so.

"It's fine," Noriko murmured without much conviction, Kiara rolling her eyes.

"We're not looking for fine, we're looking for amazing," she said, shoving the dress back on the rack and turning to look at Noriko "What's up with you?"

The teen in question ran her fingers over a velvet dress and didn't speak for a long moment.

"Is it wrong to go to Homecoming with someone while you have feelings for someone else?"

Kiara sighed and leaned against the rack; Noriko not lifting her head from where she was staring at the rows of dresses.

"Listen, I know you've got some clandestine love story going on right now," Kiara said, gaining a look from Noriko "But, Spider-Boy is busy climbing the Washington Monument—."

 _"Sh,"_ Noriko interjected, sending her a look.

"-And you two haven't spoken in—what—two months? It's not like you're leading him on."

"Yeah," Noriko muttered, Kiara sighing as she realized how much she was covering up her dejection.

"Listen," she said "Just… try talking to him before you get to the monogamy, okay?"

"… Okay," Noriko said with a small smile, which Kiara returned before shoving a dress in her arms.

"Now, try this on."

.

"So, zero out of four."

Noriko threw her hands up in acknowledgement and annoyance at the truth of what Kiara had said. There was a reason she didn't tag along with the other girls when they went shopping and this was it. She'd been uncomfortable the entire trip and it wasn't just that low-level anxiety she'd been experiencing all day.

"I told you," Noriko said, Kiara sending her a look.

"Hey, I went through six dresses before finding one I even remotely liked last year. This is nothing." Kiara pulled a pink A-Line dress "How about this?"

"Yeah, that's certainly my style," Noriko said, Kiara putting the dress back on the rack without a word.

"Hey, Noriko!"

The teenager looked over to see Mykenzie with a false smile that put her on an edge she had yet to be on today.

"Yeah?" She asked, the suspicion obvious in her voice.

"I found this; I think it would be perfect for you."

Noriko looked down at the dress that Mykenzie was holding out to her as if she meant it sincerely. But, anyone would be able to tell that the offer was not out of the goodness of her heart, but because she wanted to make a fool out of her. All Noriko could tell about the dress was that it was olive, but it was folded in Mykenzie's arms which hid most of it from her, which very much implied it was a less than attractive dress.

But, Noriko felt the pride she was getting used to having get stuck in her throat and she felt her expression twist into a sardonic smile on par with Mykenize's.

"Thank you," she said, wrenching the dress out of her hands and turning on her heel to head into one of the dressing rooms without a moment of pause, not even to appreciate the surprised look on Mykenzie's face.

Without a look at the dress, she stripped down to her underwear before grabbing it off the stool she'd thrown it down on. But, as she pulled it up and put her arms into the off-the-shoulder sleeves, she became aware of why Mykenzie had thought this was a bad pick.

Flowers.

Noriko absentmindedly let her finger trace around the pink and white design of each of the flowers as she thought. Mykenzie was real dumb to pick this dress to humiliate her. Actually, that wasn't fair; she knew nothing about her, how could she know about her feelings towards plants in general?

"So, are you gonna show us?" Mykenzie called, breaking Noriko out from her thoughts and sending a smile across her lips at the smug tone.

Instead of saying anything, Noriko just threw the curtain to the side to reveal herself. She knew she was being a tiny bit dramatic, but who could blame her?

Clearly not Kiara, who's shocked expression morphed into one of delight with a dash of amusement.

"You look hot," she offered, Noriko laughing at that slightly; that wasn't a word she'd ever use to describe herself. She didn't think of her body in terms of attraction often, although if she was going to start getting crushes, she might as well start.

"I gotta say, Mykenzie," Noriko said, turning to face the mirror but looking back over her shoulder "You're _really_ good at picking dresses."

Even while Noriko basked in Mykenzie's obvious annoyance, she couldn't quite shake the weight she felt resting on her shoulders.

.

"That comes out to $42.78."

Noriko begrudgingly shoveled over a fifty she'd gotten from Luke for her Christmas. When she'd received it, she really hadn't been expecting to spend it on something like this.

"Receipt with you or in the bag?" The cashier asked.

"The bag," Noriko said, suddenly feeling very _off._

She jerked her head to the right to see a flash of black cloth in the store window, as if someone had just hurried away.

"Here you go, have a—."

"Thanks," Noriko cut them off and grabbed her bag quickly before running out of the store, hoping to catch sight of who exactly she'd seen. Who had been watching her all day.

But, she saw no one other than the average New Yorker.

"Hey," Kiara said, jogging to stand next to her "What's up?"

"I… Nothing."

.

"So… Marquis."

Noriko rolled her eyes good naturedly and dropped her fork on her plate before leaning back and sending Claire a look from across the table.

"Hey, I'm happy you're going to Homecoming," Claire said, twirling some spaghetti on her fork before raising it to her mouth "Just like how I was happy you went to that party."

"Normal teenager things?" Noriko guessed, Claire laughing slightly.

"It's good for you," she said "So is going to school and shopping with your friends."

"The latter one did not feel good to me," Noriko said, Claire smiling.

"Yeah, well, you don't have to do _everything_ a normal teen would do," she reassured "Just do what feels right."

 _"Nothing_ feels right," Noriko countered.

"Then you are being a _very_ normal teenager."

.

She was never entirely sure of what terms to think of him in; she knew that Spider-Man and Peter Parker were likely just two sides of one person, but it still made her pause. She'd met Spider-Man, who was dorky but also heroic while never losing his kindheartedness. The teenager she'd encountered at that party for exactly one minute was dorky as well, but he didn't seem to be much more than the class loser. She supposed that was the greatest cover, but she couldn't help herself from wondering what exactly the deviation between Spider-Man and Peter was and how all of that related to Taiyou.

But, at the end of the day, she guessed it didn't matter, it's not like they were speaking.

Noriko sighed and turned over onto her back. She really shouldn't be thinking about Taiyou while she went to bed, it always kept her awake. But, since she'd already started, there was no stopping.

She knew she should just go talk to him, but she honestly didn't know _how._ How could she talk to him after a horrible fight and then no contact for a few months? He was working with the Avengers now, or at the very least was saving people at the Washington Monument. Maybe he'd changed in that time and now had no time for the Hell's Kitchen vigilante whose main claim to fame was a recording of her beating the shit out of a couple or cops, which was _polarizing_ to say the least.

He probably wanted nothing to do with her as a vigilante, let alone as a… as a…

God, why was everything so _confusing_ now?

What did she even want? She knew she had these feelings that weren't platonic, but what did she intend to do with that information? He thought the girl he'd met at the party was pretty, and that would always fill with her with warmth she couldn't describe, but that meant nothing without him knowing the context. He didn't know that girl was the Black Sky. Besides, being pretty didn't mean shit when it came to actual affection, which she knew she harbored for him. She didn't know if that was requited in anyway though.

But, maybe, she could buy into that fantasy for a little bit. She could pretend that Spider-Man—Peter—Taiyou— Whoever did return her feelings. What would it hurt to think those things?

Noriko's eyes snapped open and she stiffened on her bed.

She might not be Akuma-san, but she had more training than most anyone else on the planet, which let her hear the softest of pressure on tile and a rustle of cloth.

There was someone in the kitchen.

Quieter than the intruder, Noriko slipped out of her bed and crept out of her room and into the hallway without making a sound. There was no light on, but the glow from the window let her locate an outline of someone looking around the place as if to gather all the information they could.

Noriko had the element of surprise on her side and she didn't hesitate to take advantage of that. The young girl leapt forward and managed to get a substantial hit against the intruder. But, they were able to push her away from them and immediately Noriko realized what this was.

It wasn't the same, hers had always been personal, but this was _very_ similar training.

The all dark ensemble that covered the face were nails in the coffin of what Noriko knew already to be true.

Noriko moved forward with a viciousness on her features that she'd never displayed towards the average criminals she faced. He was a good fighter, no denying that, but no one was good as she was. Even when she got punched in the face, she continued on with same aggressiveness she'd had at the beginning while he was waning in energy.

In the end, it took a hit in the ribs to send him to his knees, and a kick in the head to put him on the ground completely. She'd stop here usually and in her mind, she knew that.

But, she wasn't stopping.

Noriko stomped on his head with her barefoot before switching to punching him over and over again. She didn't think that he was already down for the count or that the amount of damage she was causing him was getting bad, she just kept doing it.

Finally she dropped him back on the floor, but only so she could spin around and whip a butcher knife out of the block on the counter.

Noriko turned back to the man prone on ground and she walked across the cold floor with the knife raised.

Suddenly, tight arms wrapped around her from behind and pulled her back and up into the air slightly even while she struggled. But, before she could stab the arm across her torso, a voice rang out through the silent kitchen.

"Noriko, _stop!"_

Claire.

The knife slipped from her hand and clattered unbearably loud against the tile. Noriko stilled in Claire's arms and she could feel her guardian relax as she realized that Noriko wouldn't try to go through with what she'd started. But, she didn't remove her arms. Instead, they changed from a restrictive force into something still tight, but comforting.

Noriko looked over her shoulder at Claire, who was studying her with concern plain in her features. Neither woman said anything for a moment that seemed infinite, but then Noriko felt her lower lip wobble.

Claire turned her into a more traditional hug and Noriko buried her face in her neck as the tears that had been building up started to run down her cheeks. Noriko didn't even attempt to explain herself, she just let herself go and sobbed helplessly while Claire ran her fingers through her wild hair and whispered the words she knew she needed to hear.

 _"It's okay. I'm here."_

.

Noriko didn't know when she fell asleep, but she must've because she woke to sunlight streaming in on her face.

The young woman slowly pushed herself up, unfortunately identifying the aches and pains that came along with a hard fight followed by sleeping on the couch. It was later than the time she usually rose at and she could hear some motion in the kitchen. But, she recognized that as Claire and didn't worry too much about it.

Instead, she found her mind unwillingly showing her the highlights of last night. Noriko felt herself drawn inward slightly as she remembered the way she'd moved without a thought. That had been her auto-pilot.

"Good morning."

Noriko looked over to see Claire standing near the couch with her hands outstretched and holding a cup of coffee. Noriko took it without a word and swallowed a large gulp despite that fact it burned her throat as it slid down.

"Do you want to talk?" Claire asked gently, Noriko shaking her head no immediately "Okay."

Noriko continued to take sips of her coffee until the mug was empty and she placed it down on the table. By the time she was finished, Claire had joined her on the couch, but no words had passed between the pair, only silence filled the room.

"You should take a shower," Claire suggested gently. Instead of answering, Noriko just stood and walked off towards the bathroom, nearly mechanical in her movements.

.

Although the hot water did sooth her aches, it didn't wash away everything she wished would go down the drain. She couldn't scrub the memories of the prior night out of her brain no matter how hard she tried, so she found herself shutting off the water after a relatively quick shower.

Once the sound of water hitting the tub was gone, she became aware of voices from the front room.

She pulled on her robe, but didn't bother running a comb through her hair or anything else, and she quietly walked out of the bathroom with half a mind to listen in for a minute. But, as she walked down the hallway, she realized who was talking to her guardian and she knew that sneaking up was useless.

So, she walked into the room without a word, Claire sending her a small smile.

"Hey, Matt."

"Hi," Matt replied, his voice gentle in a way that reminded her of unpleasant memories "How are you?"

Noriko shrugged with the knowledge that Matt would hear her movement and understand. The teenager made her way across the room to sit down on the couch, a part of her mind noticing that the TV was on, but turned down very low; Claire must've been watching before Matt showed up.

It was quiet for a moment as all three struggled with finding words for what had happened the night before.

"I'll go…" Claire started, not even bothering with a complete lie before she headed into the kitchen. Matt sighed once she was gone and made his way to sit in one of the armchairs that was closest to Noriko.

"Do you remember last night?" He asked, Noriko rolling her eyes.

"Of course I do," she muttered, Matt smiling bitterly.

"Do you remember me coming over?" He revised, Noriko pausing.

"No," she admitted "I don't really remember falling asleep."

"Claire gave you a sedative," Matt said frankly, Noriko nodding slightly; that explained it "I came over and you were out."

"Yeah?" Noriko said, knowing there was more to this.

"I… took care of it," Matt said slowly, Noriko letting out a soft breath "You don't need to worry about that."

"Is he dead?" Noriko asked, Matt shaking his head. Neither of them said anything for a long moment as they both tried to grasp at what had occurred exactly the night before. It was Noriko who broke that silence with something even heavier.

"I was going to kill him," her voice barely a whisper "If Claire hadn't stopped me, I would have."

"I know," Matt said softly, Noriko shutting her eyes tight before taking in a shaky breath.

"I didn't… It felt like I wasn't in control," she said, her voice wobbling as she looked down at the carpet around her feet "Like I went into automatic… My factory setting."

"Noriko," Matt said, drawing Noriko's eyes back to him "That is not your default."

"It felt like it," she replied, Matt sighing and reaching over to take Noriko's hand in his.

"You're not a killer," He said, Noriko opening her mouth to protest but being cut off before she could even begin "You're not. I've known killers, Noriko, too many to count. But, I can say in complete honesty that you are not one of them. It doesn't matter that other people say you are, because all they see is the Black Sky weapon and you are not that."

"Then who am I?" Noriko asked, her voice low in an attempt to keep it from breaking.

"Whoever you want to be," Matt said simply "The Black Sky vigilante, Noriko Temple, doesn't matter as long as that's what you want."

"... Sometimes, I wish I was normal," Noriko admitted after a moment of thought, Matt nodding in understanding "I like to pretend that I am. I go to parties and shopping and all those stupid things people my age do… But I can't be, can I?"

"Why not?" Matt asked gently.

"Because this will always find me," Noriko said "I will never be completely free of it."

Matt sighed and squeezed her hand tightly in his own in an attempt to comfort her in any way he could.

"I won't lie to you," he said simply, Noriko dropping her head and sighing.

"Then I can't be normal," she said after a moment "I can't do what normal people do. I can't get married and have kids and live in stupid suburbia because they will kill _anyone_ to get to me."

"But that doesn't mean you should shut everyone out." Noriko looked up at Matt in surprise and he laughed bitterly "I've been where you are, I know what you're thinking. It won't help anything to cut yourself off. If nothing else, you will always have Claire and I. Don't forget that."

It was quiet for a moment before Noriko squeezed Matt's hand in the same way he had a minute ago. She didn't smile, but anyone could tell that at least a little bit of her worries had been put at rest, if only by the reassurance of who she had backing her up.

"Thank you, Matt," she managed finally.

"Of course," he said, the promise in his voice obvious to anyone who heard "Now go get dressed. If I was anyone else, I'd be trying to litigate them."

.

Now wearing a soft hoodie and leggings, Noriko found herself at the table with a bowl of vegan mac and cheese Matt had brought over.

"Best comfort food on the planet," Claire had said when she scooped some out of the container for Noriko. Although she appreciated the gesture and wasn't feeling quite as bad as she had earlier, it still just tasted like mush in her mouth. Although, that might have been just what it tasted like.

She looked up from where she was stirring it around in her bowl to see Matt cock his head and his brow furrow; anxiety settling in her stomach as she recognized that he was hearing something.

"What is it?" She asked, Matt picking up on the worry in her tone.

"Oh, it's nothing," he said, picking up his fork to dig into the food "Your boyfriend is on TV."

Noriko sent him a look before her chair scraped against the tile and she hopped off of it to see what the hell Matt was talking about.

The news was playing and Noriko found the remote to turn it up so the average person could hear it.

 _"Although Spider-Man was present, witnesses say that the savior of the day was Iron Man, who used Stark tech to hold the ferry together until help arrived."_

Noriko sat down on the couch with her brow furrowed as the footage showed the Staten Island Ferry in two pieces with Iron Man being the only thing that kept it from sinking. If you looked closely, Noriko observed, you could make out what seemed to be webs in the interior of the cracked ferry.

She looked up to see Matt enter the room and stand behind the couch. He placed his hands on his hips and gave that small twitch of a smile she knew well.

"I get the feeling you're not the only one having a rough day."


	11. Sun and Moon

"I really wish there was something I could do."

Peter couldn't even muster half of a smile for his best friend's genuine sympathy and all he did in response was give a small jerk of his head to let Ned know he'd heard him. Thankfully, they'd been friends long enough for Ned to know that Peter wasn't brushing him off and that he was just in a slump.

It wasn't surprising, of course, after everything that had happened yesterday.

Even thinking of it like that made an unbearable weight descend on Peter's heart. Every choice he made and every word that Mr. Stark had said returned to his mind no matter how he tried to shut it all out. He had made such huge mistakes and now he might never get a chance to make it all better.

Everything was crumbling around him and it was all his fault.

"Do you want my cookie?"

That almost got a smile; such a childish offer, but it came the closest to actually cheering him up. But, he had such a low appetite that he hadn't even eaten a single bite of his lunch, so he just shook his head no and went back to resting his chin on his arms.

The loud sounds of the cafeteria did nothing to fill the silence between the pair and Peter continued to wallow in his self-loathing while Ned tried to figure out what to say. There wasn't exactly a lot of advice out there on how to cheer up your best friend after he gets kicked out of the Avengers.

"Listen," Ned said, unwilling to continue to watch Peter so downhearted "If there's anything I can do... I can go stand outside the Tower until the press comes and asks me what I'm doing, that way your issue will be recognized by national media."

"No, no," Peter said, shaking his head "It's okay."

"How about I start a petition? I'm not sure on what, but it should help, right?" He asked, Peter just sending him a look "I could find someone to make a new suit. Something like Daredevil's. Or, um, I don't know… Joint therapy? Ice cream and romcoms? Magic address?"

"Magic address?" Peter repeated incredulously, Ned sending him a surprised look.

"Didn't I tell you about that?"

"No," Peter said, shaking his slightly.

"Well, this guy gave me an address to some place and said if I ever needed a problem to go away, I should go there," Ned said with a shrug.

Peter frowned and he lifted his head off the table before commenting.

"That sounds sketchy."

"Maybe," Ned agreed, perking up slightly "You should check it out. See if there's any, you know, bad guys."

Peter thought about it for a second before he dropped his chin back on his arms and sighed.

"What would it matter?" He asked "Even if there was, I'd probably just make it worse."

Ned sighed as he watched any pickup in Peter's mood slip back down the drain.

"But, it's worth checking out at least," Ned offered "If it is, then you can call the police. And if it isn't, then you have all your problems solved."

Peter sighed as he considered it. Maybe Ned was right; it wouldn't do any harm to give the place a look over, would it? Just a quick in and out to make sure nobody was getting hurt.

"Where did you say it was?"

.

Peter didn't come to Harlem all that often, honestly. Between school and Spider-Man, he didn't veer too far outside of Queens and Manhattan. Also, he might've been a tiny bit concerned about running into a certain someone, but he didn't have to worry about that now. He was just Peter Parker.

Honestly, now that he was here, he wasn't all that impressed. The buildings were harsh and every person he passed on the street sent him a judgmental look. But, he'd felt that way in Queens and Manhattan, so it probably wasn't just this part. The whole city was like this now. New York hated him.

He finally came to the address Ned had given to him and he had to double check to make sure. Once he was certain, he shrugged and pushed the door open.

"Sit wherever you'd like."

Peter sent a small smile to the older woman that was in the middle of delivering drinks and he walked over to one of the booths in the corner intended for two people at most. He dropped his backpack on the seat opposite and took a deep breath as he sank into the polyester. He didn't know much about fronts, but this didn't seem like one; there was no tingle on the back of his neck warning him that this place was more than what it seemed.

So, what was this place?

Peter jumped as a crashing sound reached his ears, but it was nothing more than the fall of a serving platter at the other end of the diner. The waitress must've dropped it or something, he couldn't really tell.

"That girl," a young woman said with an indulgent smile as she walked up to his table before focusing on him fully "I'm Valeria, I'll be your server today, can I get you something to drink?"

"Um, a, um, just water," Peter managed, the server sending him a smile.

"Be right back."

Peter sent her a small smile that fell away once she left. He dropped his eyes to the table and played an invigorating game of "see how many creamers you can stack on top of each other" while he waited to see what would come of this. Maybe nothing would happen; maybe Ned's whole interaction had just been brilliant marketing.

A hand placed down a mug in front of him and Peter started slightly. He took note of the brown liquid and started to speak as he turned to look at the server.

"I didn't ord-."

Peter felt himself pale as he came face to face with someone familiar.

The girl from the party- the one Spider-Man had saved- smiled in a wary but hopeful way that made Peter's heart ache.

"Hey, Taiyou."

.

 _"Sometimes I forget you're a real person."_

 _Peter felt his cheeks burn as Luna sent him a look from her spot opposite on the fire escape._

 _"I just meant, like, you're not always this. You're not always the Black Sky. You have a normal life… right?" He asked, suddenly realizing that maybe she didn't and he was just pissing her off._

 _"I… I have a life," Luna confirmed "I live with my mom in an apartment. We have dinner and watch HGTV together every night. I have a job and sometimes I feel like quitting because the customers can be the worst, but I mostly enjoy it… But, you know what?"_

 _"What?" Peter asked, slightly entranced by Luna's words; trying to imagine what that must be like. Imagine what she looked like while she did all these things._

 _"I am always the Black Sky."_

 _._

"Luna?"

She smiled in what seemed like relief before it slipped away and was replaced by that same nervous expression that she'd worn before. Peter couldn't find it in himself to do anything but stare at the girl who stood in front of him.

It was Luna, he could tell from her body type and the way she held herself. She was undoubtedly the same person as the vigilante he'd spent so much of his early time as Spider-Man with.

But, she wasn't just Luna.

"You-You were… Liz's party," Peter managed, his words choked even though she smiled reassuringly at him "And-and-and afterwards."

"Yeah," she said quietly, looking down "I… I knew it was you when we spoke. Your voice is very… specific."

"But…" Peter said, floundering at all the implications this had, including what he had told her when he dropped her off at her apartment "Y-You put on a voice. Why-Why didn't you…?"

"I didn't know what to say," she admitted, her voice barely above a whisper.

There was another silence between them, which was still stunned but not as much as before. This one was more thoughtful and concerned from both sides of the conversation.

"Can I sit down?" She asked after a moment, Peter nodding immediately and her sliding into the seat opposite of him.

Peter ran his eyes over her as he tried to get a grasp on everything that was happening and the emotions that were running completely wild.

He couldn't help but stare at her lips, which he realized was weird. But, he'd never seen that part of her knowing it was the Black Sky and all he could do was marvel at the shape and the way she bit down on her lower one out of nerves. They were nice lips; he realized that uncomfortably quickly as he remembered exactly what Karen had told him about his body's reaction to thinking about her. He must be going completely crazy right now.

She looked like such an average girl; her brown hair was pulled up into a ponytail with small pieces of hair framing her face. Well, not _average,_ she was still that pretty girl he'd taken home.

She had normal jeans and an apron like the other servers he'd seen, but as he looked her over, his eyes caught on the small tag on the breast pocket.

"Is that… Is that your real name?"

She glanced down to where his eyes were looking and a small smile formed on her lips.

"Yeah," she said, nodding slowly "Noriko Temple."

"I'm-I'm Peter Parker," he managed, the Black Sky—Luna— _Noriko_ smiling a little wider at that.

"Yeah, you told me."

"But, I didn't know it was you," Peter pointed out, Noriko's eyes and smile dropping and Peter feeling a tinge of guilt as he realized she thought he was mad at her for that "I wouldn't… If I had been in your place, I wouldn't have known what to say either."

Noriko sent him a tiny, appreciative smile before dropping her eyes back down to the table. For a moment, the only sounds that filled their silence was that of the diner; Peter keenly aware of the whispers of two older men on the other side of the room.

"Why…" Peter trailed off but continued once he noticed the attentive look Noriko was giving him "Why talk to me now? You could've just pretended to be the girl from the party or something."

"Because I know what to say now."

"Yeah?" Peter asked, honestly a bit surprised, because he sure didn't know. Noriko nodded as she licked her lips and looked away for a moment before turning back to look him dead in eye.

"I'm sorry."

Of all the things he'd expected to come out of her mouth, that was not one of them.

"S-Sorry?" Peter repeated "For what?"

"The argument," Noriko clarified, looking down at where her hands were twisting on the table "I'm sorry for yelling at you and saying what I said. I should've never said that you cared more about being an Avenger than helping people, because I know that isn't true. I was just trying to get a reaction out of you... The truth is… I was scared. I was _really_ scared. I thought that they were going to use you like… But, I still shouldn't have said any of that… And I totally get it if you don't forgive me or if-."

"I'm sorry."

Noriko looked up sharply only to find that Peter was now looking at the table.

"For a lot of things," Peter continued "I shouldn't have-have lashed out at you and said that stuff. Especially about your training. Really… I should've listened to you about me caring more about the Avengers, because you were right and now I've screwed everything up."

"It's not that bad, Peter," Noriko said, Peter smiling unwillingly at the sound of his name on her tongue; it was not something he'd ever expected to get to hear Luna say "I saw it on the news, nobody was seriously hurt."

"There's way more than what the news is saying," Peter said, feeling guilt clog his throat again "I… It's my fault."

"Well…" Noriko said, reaching out and tangling her hands with Peter, who felt the red climb up his neck to his ears, which she could now see "You're in the diner, talking to the waitress. Tell me what happened and I'll see what I can do."

Peter looked up and met Noriko's eyes and he couldn't help the smile that spread across his features.

For the first time in a while, Peter felt like everything was going to be alright.

.

"What a dickhead."

Peter almost spat out his tea; that was not the response he'd expected from Noriko after he told the story. He would have thought she'd tell him he was a horrible person sooner than that.

"W-What?" He asked, Noriko shrugging as if it was obvious.

"Stark," she said simply, crossing her arms "I mean, I've never been a fan of the Avengers, but what an asshole."

"I… I don't follow," Peter admitted.

"Peter, I _was_ right, but not about you caring more about the Avengers than people. I was right about Stark _using_ you." Noriko sighed and reeled it back in, as if she was nervous that the original argument would crop back up and destroy everything they'd rebuilt so far "I'm not… I'm not trying to upset you or make you feel dumb. I… I know what it's like and I just want to help."

"I know," Peter replied, Noriko smiling slightly at his immediate response "Just… C-Can you explain? I don't…"

"Of course," Noriko said gently before taking a deep breath "He took you out of the country to fight in a battle that had nothing to do with you and you knew nothing about. Then, once you stopped being useful, he dropped you back off at home while giving you some flimsy promise of being an Avenger one day. And then he ignored you. But, the moment you started dealing in something he didn't like, he popped back up and told you to stop while brushing off your concerns. Then, when you continued to try to handle the situation and the FBI showed up, he got mad at you for not doing as he said despite the fact he never acted like he was going to deal with it."

"Th-That's basically what happened," Peter agreed, Noriko giving a soft huff of a laugh.

"Peter, I'm sorry, but he is just using you," she said "More than half of the Avengers dropped his ass a few months ago and he's just looking for something to fill that hole. That's you, Peter. He wants to feel like what he says has any goddamn weight in this world, but it doesn't. He wants to play mentor, so he gives you shiny gadgets, but he doesn't realize he actually has to mentor, he just wants you to do what he says when he says it. And when you don't listen to him and don't give him the control he wants, he lashes out and takes your suit like he's revoking your right to be a hero."

"But, what he doesn't know is that taking away your suit won't do that. Because you are not a hero because you put on a mask and become Spider-Man; you are hero because you are Peter Parker. I never believed in heroes until I met you, Peter, but now I do. But only in one."

Peter didn't speak at first; too stunned to think of any response to Noriko's impassioned words. But, she seemed to understand and simply waited for him to gather himself. Finally, he reached across the table to grab her hands again and squeeze them gently in his.

Noriko smiled at him and returned the gesture, if a bit tighter.

"… I-I don't know what to say," he admitted finally.

"You don't have to say anything," Noriko replied gently.

They sat there for what felt like hours, but Peter couldn't help the pout that spread across his features when one of her hands was drawn away from his. But his interest did grow when he watched her throw a small wave to the two older men, who both nodded and smiled in their direction before heading out the door.

"Do you know everyone here?" Peter found himself asking, gripping the hand that was still in his a little tighter.

"Mostly," Noriko confirmed "A lot of them came in for help and keep coming back. You see that woman over there, with the kid?"

"Yeah?" Peter said, looking over to see what seemed to be a perfectly happy family.

"Her landlord was trying to coerce her into sex in exchange for not being evicted. I beat the shit out of him," Noriko said with a small smile as she recalled it "And that guy eating the burger. He was going to hold up a convenience store. I stopped him and helped him find a job."

"Wow," Peter said softly before speaking up while his brow furrowed "These people… They have to know who you are."

"When you came in today, you were probably the only one in the building to not know the waitress here is the Black Sky," Noriko replied.

"Aren't you—Aren't you worried about someone telling?" Peter asked "I mean, you beat up a _cop._ The police don't really like you."

"This is New York, Peter," Noriko said as a small smile grew across her expression "I have their backs and they have mine. No matter what."

"That's…" Peter searched for words until the simplest of them fell from his lips "Nice."

"Alright, Dork," Noriko said, Peter feeling a warmth in his chest at her smile combined with her gentle teasing "What's next for the Spider-Man?"

"I…" Again Peter searched for a reply to Noriko's words and this time he just said the truth "I don't know."

"Well," Noriko said, leaning her elbows on the table and coming closer to him, which made the warmth from earlier spread to his face "If you ever need anything, you know where I work… And if you give me your _phone…"_

Peter reached inside his pocket and pulled out his cellphone so fast that he nearly sent it flying across the diner. Thankfully, Noriko caught it before it could get too far and she quickly started inputting her contact info into it. After a moment, she sent Peter a smile and passed it back to him; the teenager not looking away from Noriko to even glance at the screen.

"I should, um…" Noriko sighed as she spoke "I should get back to work."

"Oh, right, yeah," Peter said, feeling his mood dip slightly as he watched her slide out of the booth and he realized this meant the end of the conversation.

"Did you want something to eat?" Noriko asked, pulling out her notepad and giggling slightly.

"No, I sh-should probably go home," Peter said, sending her an apologetic look as he also stood "Here, I'll…"

"It's fine," Noriko said, stopping Peter from reaching into his backpack "I got it."

"Oh, no, I can pay," Peter protested, Noriko sending him a look.

"It's a cup of tea. I got it, Parker," she said, Peter smiling and nodding.

"Thanks, I'll, um, well…" He stumbled over his words as he tried to think of what he wanted to say "Does-Does this mean, if I- you know- go out, we can work together again?"

"I'd like to," Noriko said, Peter smiling widely before forcing himself to stop looking like an idiot.

"Okay, I'll-I'll see you later," Peter said, slowly turning to walk away.

"See you," Noriko said, smiling sweetly before she turned to pick up the empty mug off the table.

"Hey, Noriko?"

She looked to see that Peter had turned to face her fully again and was actually closer than before. He rubbed the back of his neck as he waited for her to respond.

"Yeah?" She asked, her brow furrowing.

"If-If I, um, if I texted you for something that wasn't about work, would-would that be okay?" Peter asked, glancing between where his hands were twisting together and Noriko "Like, t-to talk or hangout or something?"

"That would be…" Noriko said with a soft puff of air as she tried to get ahold of herself "That'd be good."

"C-Cool," Peter said, beginning to walk backwards towards the exit while a wide grin spreading across his features that Noriko couldn't help but mirror "I'll t-t-." Peter tripped slightly over a chair but righted himself before he fell completely "I'll text you."

"I look forward to it," Noriko said, giggling slightly as he nearly fell over again.

"Okay, bye!" Peter said before practically running out of the diner, likely to keep himself from actually falling flat on his ass.

Noriko watched him run down the street through the window and smiled just as widely as he was before she smacked herself in the face with her notepad to cover the red that had started to take over her cheeks.

.

Peter couldn't help the laughter that bubbled out of his lips as he made his way down the streets of Harlem. The city that had looked so hateful and judgmental this morning now looked like the city Noriko had described; the one where everyone had each other's backs.

For the third time in the past five minutes, Peter nearly tripped but caught himself before he became one with the ground. This time did slow him down though and he found himself shoving his hand into his pocket and pulling out his phone. He unlocked it and laughed once again as he took in her number, which was right under her name and the crescent moon emoji.

Karen had been right about him being attracted to her and it was stupid that he'd ever denied it, but now he knew. Talking to Noriko—The Black Sky— _Luna_ face to face had made him realize just how deep this ran.

He wasn't just attracted to Luna; he wanted to be her boyfriend.


	12. Text on the Beach

"Peter, are you with us?"

The teenager in question jumped slightly and immediately locked his phone screen as he turned his attention to his teacher.

"Y-Yeah, of course," Peter said, his voice wobbling due to the fact he couldn't have been farther away from the classroom. Once the teacher turned back towards the board, Peter's eyes dropped down to his lap, only to feel his nerves return as he looked at the blank message box.

"What's going on?"

For the second time in ten seconds, Peter jumped. He sent a sideways look at Ned, who was leaning over slightly to whisper to him and to try to get a good look at what he'd been checking every few seconds.

"Avengers stuff?" He went on to ask, Peter's jaw tightening at that a little bit before he responded.

"You know Mr. Stark wants nothing to do with me now," he said, Ned nodding slightly with a mournful expression.

"So what is it?" He asked after a moment of silence for Peter's loss of Avengers membership "Robbery or something?"

"No," Peter whispered back before sighing "I'm just… trying to figure out this text."

"For who?" Ned asked "Iron Man?"

" _No,"_ Peter said louder than he should have and getting the attention of the teacher. He was quiet for a moment before the she turned and he returned to whispering "No one. Just a friend."

"A friend?" Ned whispered incredulously _"Who?"_

"No one. You haven't m-." Peter cut himself off from finishing that sentence; it wasn't true, not entirely "You don't know her."

Ned's eyes widened almost comically and Peter cursed himself for slipping up in such a way.

 _"Her?"_ Ned hissed "You're texting a _girl?"_

 _"Sh,"_ Peter admonished, sending look to make sure their teacher hadn't noticed "Yes, I'm texting a girl."

"Do you _like_ her?" Ned asked, continuing before Peter could deny it "Is that why you're nervous?"

"I-I-" Peter stuttered as he tried to get his mind in order; inadvertently confirming all of Ned's suspicions.

"Oh my god," Ned said simply "Are you over Liz?"

"Y-Yeah, I think I am," Peter admitted for the first time, thinking of the girl that he'd had a crush on for what seemed like forever and feeling none of the butterflies he knew were just chemical reactions "Liz is awesome, but…"

"This girl…?" Ned offered, Peter's eyes focusing on the desk in front of him instead of answering the implied question. It was quiet for a moment before Peter looked over at his best friend with a lost expression on his face.

"How do you ask a girl to Homecoming?"

.

"What is it?"

Noriko tilted her phone slightly so the girl beside her couldn't see the screen before she looked over at Kiara with a confused expression painted on her features.

"What is what?" She asked, her best friend rolling her eyes in response.

"For the past three days every time you looked at your texts you smiled like an idiot, but now you look like someone just told you that MasterChef got cancelled. What's up?" Kiara asked "White boy not as perfect as you remember?"

"It's not…" Noriko sighed and ran a hand through her hair; she needed to get her roots touched up, but she'd been waiting for the weekend "Here."

She slid her phone across the lunch room table to Kiara, who took it with a raised eyebrow and read the most recent text.

"What? He just asked you what you're doing Saturday."

Noriko sent her a desperate look and hoped that Kiara would get the message she was trying to convey without words. It's not that she was choosing to not explain, it was that she didn't know how.

"Tell him the truth. Just say you're going to—oh."

Noriko waved her arms slightly as Kiara put it together; the more experienced with dealing with boys nodding her head sagely as she considered how to handle this.

"Okay," Kiara said slowly, handing Noriko back her phone "This is what you say."

.

"What does it say?"

Peter turned slightly so only he could see the text he just received. The ten minutes of waiting for a response had nearly killed him as he maligned himself for possibly coming on too strong. Thankfully, though, his class had ended and he was on his way to the next one, meaning he and Ned could talk at full volume about the situation.

Peter unlocked his phone and felt his heart drop into stomach.

"Well?" Ned asked, Peter not responding and instead passing his phone to Ned "Oh."

Yeah. Oh.

"That sucks their Homecoming is the same night as ours," Ned observed, Peter hardly paying attention as his mind was stuck on one thing.

"She probably has a date."

Ned sighed and passed the phone back to Peter as they both recognized the probability of that statement being true.

"Pete—."

They both stopped as Peter's phone went off and alerted them to another text that had been received. Peter looked down at the screen before paraphrasing it.

"She wants to know why I asked," he admitted, his voice wobbling a little bit "Wh—What do I say?"

.

"'Just wondering' what a liar."

Noriko snorted as she thoughtlessly copied down the words on the chalkboard as her mind was completely engrossed with whatever was happening across the city with her newly re-established friend.

"What do you think the truth was?" Noriko whispered to Kiara, who huffed slightly and sent her best friend a sideways look.

"Well…" She mumbled before she took out a pen and scribbled something on her notebook for Noriko to read "Text this."

.

Right as Peter's hand enclosed around the hall pass, he felt the buzz in his pocket. Only once he left the classroom and the door shut behind him did he pull it out and read the text Noriko had sent him.

"Hey."

Peter looked up in surprise to see that Liz had just turned into the same empty hallway as him. He shoved his phone into his pocket before he responded, as if Liz would be able to sense the rejection he was facing at the hands of the girl he had a crush on.

"Hey," he replied, sounding slightly caught "I-I thought you had Calculus this period."

"Yeah, I was just working on some Homecoming stuff," Liz admitted, that familiar word sending Peter's mind back into a jumbled mess.

Noriko was going to Homecoming. She probably had a date who'd give her a corsage and she'd slow dance with and… they'd probably even kiss her at the end of the night. Peter knew, he _knew,_ he had no right to be jealous. He hadn't talked to Noriko for months up until a week ago; he couldn't expect her to not go on dates, especially since they never established anything non-platonic between them. But, god, it didn't feel good to know that maybe if he'd pulled himself together quicker, he could be the one who was taking her to the dance. He should've just said—

"Will you go to Homecoming with me?"

Liz's face lit up and two weeks ago Peter's heart would've stopped from that. Unfortunately, it already _was_ stopped at that point.

Where had _that_ come from?

Never in a million years would he have been able to ask Liz to Homecoming. Even if he didn't have crush on her like he used to, she was still pretty, popular, and very likely to reject him. It had just come out of his mouth, like he lost his mind temporarily.

"Yeah," Liz said, smiling in a way that made this both better and worse "I'd like that."

"C-Cool," Peter stuttered, walking backwards away from Liz before remembering "I'm actually, um, going that way."

He walked past her and once she couldn't see his face, it morphed into one of complete confusion.

He dug his hand into his pocket and pulled out his phone; taking in the question Noriko had asked him not five minutes ago.

Well, it looked like his reply was simple: he was going to Homecoming on Saturday.

.

"Oh, quit pouting."

Noriko raised her eyes up from her phone and sent a dirty look to Kiara without lifting her head, mostly because she'd been reprimanded twice already for moving.

"I mean, sure, the guy you've had a crush on for months was probably- definitely- going to ask you to Homecoming until you said you were already going to a different one," Kiara allowed, the hand that was holding her lipstick slowing "And, you know, you probably would've had a good shot with him if you had gone. And he probably has a new date now… But, we're going to Homecoming and I don't want to hang out with someone who's sulking the entire time."

Noriko groaned and lifted her hands to bury her face in them.

"If you fuck up your makeup…" Kiara said, allowing the rest of her threat to go unsaid.

"Wait, so, let me get this straight," Thea Gomez cut in as she pulled the last bobby pin out of her mouth "You have a crush on some boy at another school, and you had to tell him no to his Homecoming 'cause you going to yours tonight with a different boy."

"Well, he didn't straight up ask her," Kiara offered while Noriko kept her mopey silence "He asked what she was doing on Saturday, she told him, and when she asked him, he said he was going to his Homecoming."

"So, he wouldn't've been askin' if he wasn't going to ask her," Thea finished, Noriko muttering something intelligible under her breath "Kiara's right. What's done is done. Just have fun tonight and talk to him tomorrow."

"Yeah, whatever," Noriko muttered, lowering her eyes back down to her phone and Kiara huffing. It was quiet for a minute before she shot forward swiped it from Noriko's hand. Usually, the vigilante would be able to stave off any attempts on her phone, but since Thea had a good chunk of her hair in her hand, Noriko couldn't do much more than glare and protest verbally.

"Hey!"

"Oh my god, you're _texting_ him?"

"What?" Noriko replied, crossing her arms "He's my friend."

"No, no, no," Kiara said, shaking her head "I'm keeping your phone; you are _not_ going to do this all night."

"Why?!" Noriko demanded, her voice raising a pitch.

"Well, for one it's rude as fuck to Marquis to spend your entire Homecoming together texting another guy, and two, it's just going to make you even more bitchy," Kiara said, opening her clutch and dropping the phone in it.

"What if something happens?" Noriko pointed out "What if Claire or somebody needs me?"

Kiara rolled her eyes to the heavens and made a sound of near despair.

 _"God,_ I'll check it sometimes. Okay?"

Noriko slumped in her seat again and sent Kiara a look that meant just because she'd taken her phone didn't mean she could make her stop pouting.

.

 _You would've killed for this chance a week ago._

 _Well,_

 _Not killed._

 _But, you would've done a lot!_

Peter's inner pep talk was doing _nothing_ for him. Try as he might to convince himself that tonight would be fun, he couldn't help but imagine the Homecoming that could've been. If the things that had happened and the timing of it all had been different.

God, he needed to snap out of this; it wasn't fair to Liz to spend the entire dance pining after a different girl.

His eyes drifted to his phone resting on the sink and he sighed as he caught sight of the last text he'd received.

"Let me see you!"

Peter broke out of his reverie and forced a smile before he turned to look at his Aunt, who was beaming at him. May placed her hands on his biceps and did a cursory glance over him, which made Peter feel slightly self-conscious; May had done so much to get him ready for today and here he was, moping because the girl he liked wasn't the one he was going with.

"You look amazing," May offered "So handsome. And I know you and Liz are going to have a _fantastic_ time."

"T-Thanks," Peter offered, unsure what to say to that.

"I remember my first Homecoming," May offered with nostalgia apparent on her features "The dance was insane and afterwards—I can't tell you that. Just remember to have a good time. Maybe not as good as mine."

Peter's chuckle was a bit forced, but May probably thought he was nervous about the dance and not that his mind was with that text.

 ** _I hope you have a fun homecoming_**

.

"This matches _perfectly."_

Noriko looked up at Marquis in surprise. She'd been shocked out of her slump by the fact that the corsage that her date was currently putting on her wrist was just the right color to go with the flowers on her dress.

"I might have gotten a tip from Kiara," Marquis offered with a sheepish smile, Noriko rolling her eyes indulgently and sending a look back at her best friend, who smiled innocently.

"Well, for once, I'm not mad about her meddling," Noriko offered, Marquis laughing softly.

"Ready to go?" He asked, Noriko nodding and going to follow after him out the apartment door but pausing.

"You sure you don't just want to ride with us?" She asked, Kiara waving off the question "Can I have my phone?"

"Nope," Kiara said with a pop, Noriko rolling her eyes.

"Well, if I get murdered, it's on you."

"Yeah, I'm really worried about that happening to you."

.

Peter's fingers drummed against his knee as they drove in silence. May was sending him glances that Peter knew meant she would be offering some half-baked, but well-meaning advice. But, as much as he loved his Aunt, he didn't think she'd get the situation he was in. Not in the censored way he'd have to tell her.

"So, I can tell you're pretty anxious."

Well, she wasn't _wrong._

"Yeah," Peter muttered, unsure of what he could say for her to get it. Instead of continuing, he just rubbed his eyes and sighed.

"Well, I know I can't just make that disappear," May said sympathetically "But, I promise you that you'll have a good time. Nothing bad is going to happen. Not with Liz or her parents."

Peter hadn't even considered that; he had to meet Liz's parents. Maybe his new apathetic attitude towards everyone but a certain someone would pay off and it would go off without a hitch.

.

"You don't have-."

Noriko hadn't even finished her sentence and Marquis was hopping out of the car and running around to open her door for her.

"Thank you," Noriko said with an awkward little smile that reflected the awkward ride over; thankfully, the radio had drowned out most of it.

The pair made their way from their parking space up to the school, where chatter and music was spilling out to tell them that the dance was well underway. Marquis held the door open for her and she smiled as she stepped inside the decorated gym.

It wasn't anything that impressive, but Noriko couldn't help the genuine smile that spread across her features. There was an interesting vibe to the room; one she'd never experienced before.

"Do you want to dance or go find your friends…?" Marquis offered, Noriko tipping her head in thought.

"Actually, I want something to drink, I'll-."

"I'll get you some," Marquis said, already bounding off towards the table before he finished his sentence.

"… Just stand here, then," Noriko said awkwardly before taking a look across the gym in the hopes of seeing one of her friends. But, before she could make eye contact with Sofia or even Mykenzie, she spun around after she felt a pinch on her side.

"Hey, Waitress."

"Jaylen," Noriko said with a dirty look at one of her less favorite regulars at the diner "Why're you here? You're in the Harlem school system."

"Guy can't have a date?" Jaylen asked with a cocky smile that made Noriko roll her eyes "I see you got one too."

Noriko looked over her shoulder to see Marquis watching them from across the gym with a frown on his face, but before she could reassure him nothing was wrong, Jaylen spoke.

"Didn't think you'd be into a guy like that."

"Like what?" Noriko said defensively, Jaylen leaning in closer with a grin.

"A dorky little bitch."

Noriko gave Jaylen a look but instead of refuting what he said, she let a small smile grace her features.

"You should see the guy I'm actually into."

Instead of waiting for Jaylen to say anything else, she turned on her heel and met her date half way; the young woman taking the punch from him with murmured thanks.

"Who was that?" Marquis asked, Noriko shaking her head and rolling her eyes.

"Nobody."

.

 _Danger_

 _Danger_

 _Danger_

Every hair on Peter's body stood on end as he sat in the backseat. This was almost the worst he'd ever had it; the tingles were pretty intense and had spread across his entire body. But, he knew it wasn't the absolute worst he'd experienced. A part of him wished he could turn that part of him off, but the rest was far to engrossed with being filled with both confliction and intense fear.

There had been a spike a few minutes ago, when the words "Spider-Man" had fallen from his lips, and that confirmed to Peter that he knew exactly who was taking his daughter to Homecoming.

It was immature, Peter knew it, but a part of him wanted to beg Liz to not leave him alone in the car with her dad. But, there she went after he gave her some stuff about "The dad talk" and Peter waited for whatever may come.

The gun wasn't surprising, even though it sent another shockwave through his frame. But, even in a car with a man who would love nothing more than to kill him, it still wasn't the worst he'd ever reacted to danger.

Maybe that was because he was giving him a chance to walk away; forget that this had ever happened and go show Liz a good time. Never, ever interfere with his business again, or else…

"I'll kill you and everybody you love."

Peter held it together and didn't glance down at the phone resting on the floor of the car. The phone with a text last sent to the person who, upon meeting them for the first time, had caused his entire body to go numb with how they set off his senses. The most dangerous person he'd ever met.

 _I'd like to see you try._

.

"I'm not that good of a dancer."

Marquis gave her an incredulous look as the current, fast-paced song came to an end.

"You're great," he reassured her as the next song began to play. Noriko nearly groaned as she realized what it was; they had to play John Legend while she was with a date she wasn't into, didn't they?

Marquis sent her a nervous look before he placed his hands on her hips and Noriko placed her hands on his shoulders. The awkward sway of two teenagers slow dancing was not something she was accustomed to and she decided she never wanted to be.

But, just because all this wasn't her forte didn't mean she couldn't pick up on context clues. She'd watched enough Hallmark movies with Claire to know exactly what Marquis was doing.

He was going to kiss her.

A million thoughts ran through Noriko's head, including initiating any one of the escape plans that she always found herself making whenever she entered a room. But, her body did nothing to support her wild mind and she found herself frozen, something that would never happen to her during a fight.

Marquis's hands tightened slightly on her hips and Noriko wanted to wriggle out of them and hide away instead of dealing with this. But, instead, her body did nothing as he leaned in closer.

"Noriko!"

 _I'll start going to church more with Matt._

The relieved teenager moved out of Marquis's arms to come face to face with a concerned looking Kiara.

"Date finally showed?" Noriko asked despite the fact she could kiss her best friend right now for saving her from a kiss.

"Yeah, yeah," Kiara said, waving her hand as the expression didn't drop "Listen, Peter texted you something totally nonsensical and you have four missed calls from the same unsaved number."

Noriko frowned and took her phone from Kiara. All the sounds of the dance faded into the background as she took in the last text her phone had received.

 ** _The guy with the wings is named Toomes. He knows about me._**

.

"I reached Mr. Happy, I don't think he likes it by the way, but it sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off in nine minutes. He was surrounded by boxes."

"It's moving day!"

Ned jumped in his seat as his ringtone broke the semi-silence of the school's computer lab. He fumbled with it for a moment before breathing a sigh of relief as he recognized the unsaved number.

"Hello?" He said into it, not thinking that he should probably expand on that.

"Who is this?" A taut girl's voice with a Japanese accent demanded.

"M-My name is Ned, I'm a friend of Peter's," he said, stuttering slightly as he tried to get a grasp on all of this. He wasn't even entirely sure why Peter wanted him to tell the girl he had a crush on everything, but he'd stopped before running off to catch the wings guy and had given Ned the number, so it must be important.

"What's going on?" She asked with concern obvious in her tone "He texted me some shit about Toomes being the one with the wings and knowing about him."

"Toomes is our friend's Dad," Ned explained "He realized that Peter's Spider-Man and now Peter has to stop him before he leaves."

Ned didn't catch what she said under her breath, possibly because it was in another language, and when she spoke again, he could hear anger and worry laced into her voice.

"Where is he going?"

"I'm not really sure, we're just tracking Toomes's-."

 _"Just tell me which direction!"_

Ned jumped again at the near frightening intensity in her voice and when he responded, there was a level of meekness to it.

"West from Midtown High in Queens."

"Text me updates," she said simply "If you talk to Peter, tell him I'm coming."

The sudden silence of the call ending allowed Ned to take a deep breath before he heard the familiar voice of his best friend.

"Ned, where is he heading?"

"Same direction," Ned offered before adding "I talked to your girlfriend."

.

"Noriko, where are you going?"

The teenager in question could've groaned out loud; her heels scraping against the pavement as she stopped. Before her date could say anything more, Noriko turned to face him with an apologetic expression.

"Listen, Marquis, you are a _great_ guy and you could do _so_ much better than me," she said, trying to ignore the confused expression on his face "I really hope this doesn't ruin your Homecoming or that you take this personally, but I have to go. Just go back inside and find a cute girl to dance with. Ever talk to Chloe? She's a sweetheart."

"But-."

"I'm sorry, but I have to go _right now."_

Noriko swung back around but she didn't even make it a step before a car pulled right up to the sidewalk the two teenagers were standing on. The passenger door was thrown open and Noriko could clearly see who was sitting in the driver's seat of the beater in front of her.

"Come on," Jaylen said, rolling his eyes when Noriko hesitated "I heard you talking on the phone. What're you gonna do? Walk?"

Noriko looked back at a still confused, but now upset, Marquis one last time and sighed.

"I'm sorry."

Before she had even shut the door, Jaylen's car was squealing out of the school parking lot.

"I take it you know about me," she said conversationally as she pulled on her seatbelt. Jaylen simply snorted in response.

"Who _doesn't?"_

.

Peter couldn't help but be disconcerted by the fact Toomes was not at all surprised or worried by his appearance at the abandoned warehouse. Instead of all the reactions Peter was kind of hoping for, Toomes smiled like they were buddies when he caught sight of the teenage superhero.

"You know, I gotta tell you Pete, I really, really admire your grit. I see why Liz likes you," Toomes said casually as Peter stalked towards him "But… I'm a little worried you're leading my girl on."

"What're you talking about?" Peter demanded, feeling his voice wobbling slightly as he tried to keep it under control.

But, Peter couldn't help but swallow hard as Toomes reached into his pocket and pulled out his phone with the screen unlocked.

"You should've kept this between us, Pete," Toomes said, shaking his head mournfully "You had to bring this Luna girl into it too. You know what that means, don't you?"

Peter didn't say anything in response to Toomes taunts and instead shot a web to attach his hand to his desk.

"I think you do," Toomes said nonchalantly "Listen, Pete, it doesn't have to come to that. Just walk away right now and no one else has to get hurt."

"Except for all the people that your weapons will be used on," Peter pointed out, Toomes sighing.

"How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower? Or any of his little toys? Those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us- you and me- they don't care about us. We build their roads and fight their wars, but they don't care about us. We have to pick up after them; we have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about, Peter."

Peter's fingers twitched slightly as he uncomfortably recognized that not only was Toomes right, but that he'd heard this sentiment before. The last time hadn't been in an abandoned warehouse, though, but instead on a cold rooftop.

But, there was the difference. Because the first time he'd heard this, the speaker hadn't been a black-market arms dealer. The speaker had been someone trying to do their best to help the people that had been abused by the people Toomes was talking about.

"You're acting like what you're doing is hurting people like Stark, but it's not, it's hurting people like us," Peter said, standing up a little bit straighter "You're just as bad as them."

Toomes sighed and nodded slowly.

"I'm not going to lie, that's a little bit disappointing," he said "Ah, C'est la vie, it killed enough time."

"Enough time for w-?"

The hair on Peter's neck stood on end and he jumped in the air before he even saw the danger.

Toomes's wings flew around the room and slammed into the infrastructure, but never able to get Peter. It came close a few times, but the teenager always able to dodge them before they hurt him.

"I'm sorry, Peter!" Toomes called as Peter flipped over the flying tech and landed on his feet.

"What're you talking about? That thing hasn't even touched me yet!"

Toomes's smile only served to set off Peter's sense of danger and he confirmed it by speaking.

"True. Then again, wasn't really trying to."

.

The unbearable weight crushing his back made Peter cry out before he even realized what was going on. Only once the dust began to clear was he able to fully comprehend what had happened. The wings had crashed into the pillars and the warehouse had collapsed and now…

 _"Please! I'm down here! I'm stuck! I'm stuck!"_

Peter's gasping breaths were coming quicker and quicker as he panicked; he couldn't get out, he wasn't strong enough to lift the rubble off. He was stuck. He was stuck. He was going to _die._

 _Noriko._

Ned had talked to her, she was coming, she could get him out of here. He needed her. He couldn't do this alone. He couldn't do this at all. She'd been right the first time they'd met; he wasn't cut out for this. He wasn't meant to be a superhero. He wasn't meant to be Spider-.

 _Peter sent a nervous look towards the Black Sky, who was sitting with her back against the building that the fire escape they were chilling on belonged to. Her legs were stretched out as much as they could be and her fingers were linked while resting on her stomach._

 _"What?" She asked without moving, Peter feeling his cheeks burn as he realized he'd been caught._

 _"Nothing, nothing," He murmured before taking a breath and voicing what had been on his mind all day "Just, th-thanks for, um, teaching me about all the vigilante stuff. I-I don't know much about all this. I've only been Spider-Man for three months and-."_

 _"You've been Spider-Man longer than that."_

 _Peter frowned in confusion at the Black Sky's interjection and had to think before he responded._

 _"Act-Actually I haven't, but th-thank you for-."_

 _"You've been Spider-Man for much longer than three months," she said again, Peter falling silent as he tried to figure out what was going on. The Black Sky made a huffing sound that was somewhere between amusement and irritation as she leaned forward to engage more with Peter._

 _"What, you think any asshole on the street gets your abilities and decides to put on a red hoodie and save cats from trees?" She said before laughing slightly "Listen, you've been Spider-Man for a much longer time than you've had your powers. Because being Spider-Man isn't just about how high you can jump or how much you can lift... Being a superhero isn't about the abilities, it's about the person who has them."_

No, no, that wasn't right. When they'd first met, she'd said he wasn't right for this, but not afterwards. When she got to know him, she'd said that he wasn't Spider-Man because of the mask and webs, but because of who he was.

Nothing else mattered; he was Spider-Man.

And Spider-Man could lift this rubble.

 _"Come on, Spider-Man!"_

 _._

It felt like every part of his body was screaming at him for moving so soon after being trapped, but Peter ignored it and instead grabbed his mask as he hurried out of the destroyed warehouse. He had to stop Toomes before he got the stuff from moving day. He had to stop Toomes before he tried to hurt anyone he thought might stand in his way.

.

Lying on the burning sand next to Toomes wasn't exactly how Peter expected this to all go down, but he took a deep breath nonetheless. He might've screwed Toomes's chance with Stark tech, but he'd also saved his life. Peter could tell that he wouldn't try anything else and because of that; he could relax, close his eyes, and fully appreciate how much agony he was in.

You know, if Peter didn't feel like he might actually die soon, he'd find it very funny that they landed on the beach right next to this amusement park. He should ask Noriko if she'd ever been; that might be a good first date if he could manage to ask her.

Well, maybe not first date unless it took him months to spit it out. He kind of destroyed a part of it with that plane.

"Pete, I-."

There was a soft thud and a grunt from Toomes, but Peter didn't move to look. It took a familiar voice to get him to open his eyes.

"Oh, shut up."

The world came into focus slowly for Peter, but once it did, he couldn't help the goofy smile that grew across his cheeks. The beach around them was covered in burning boxes, which lit her face in a funny, flickering way, but something about the way it reflected on her features… Peter wondered if maybe he actually _died_ and this was the afterlife.

"Noriko?" He said softly, the woman who was kneeling over him smiling slightly.

"Hey, Taiyou."

Without breaking eye contact, Peter slowly pushed up onto his elbows- both of the teenagers wincing at his pain- and he took her in completely. She looked very different from all the times he'd seen her; her hair was done in a funny braid thing, she had a full face of makeup, and she was wearing a pretty dress. The butterflies he was still getting used to when he saw her went wild.

"S-Sorry about your Homecoming," Peter said, his voice raspy "You look really nice."

"Sorry about _your_ Homecoming," Noriko responded with a small smile "You look like complete shit."

Peter chuckled despite the fact it hurt his ribs and he sat up fully, grimacing the whole time while Noriko bit her lip in worry.

"He really messed you up, huh?" She said, sending a dirty look towards Toomes once Peter nodded "Alright, come on."

Noriko pulled his arm over her shoulders and wrapped her arm around his waist before she hoisted him to his feet. Part of Peter was happy that his current state would keep Noriko from noticing how his cheeks had pinked slightly, but he was mostly focused on putting one foot in front of the other.

"Where are we going?" He asked, looking over at Noriko and realizing how close they were. Thankfully, she didn't notice his reaction and she instead her smile was full of camaraderie.

"I told you: I know a good nurse."


	13. Innocence (Soon To Be) Lost

The apartment was quiet except for the low sounds of real housewives screaming at one another on the TV. It was a rare night of calm for Claire and that meant she could watch trash TV and help herself to a second glass of wine without guilt.

Usually when Noriko was out and Claire had the apartment to herself, there was a low level of worry always plaguing her. But, the teenager wasn't out searching for the seediest people in Hell's Kitchen tonight. Tonight she was at Homecoming.

All Claire wanted was some normality for Noriko and she was finally getting that. No pimps, no pedophiles, no ninjas. Just a pretty dress, a cute boy, and a dance. Nothing screamed "normal high school experience" quite like that.

Plus, this meant Claire had nothing to concern herself with other than garbage television and white wine. No need to worry about whether or not she was sober enough to possibly have to pull a bullet out of anyone. Noriko was safe at Homecoming, Matt was retired seemingly for good, Danny was out there searching for the Hand, and Luke…

Well, she didn't have to worry about patching Luke up. There were other worries, other wants, but there was nothing she could do about any of them.

Claire leaned forward to move the wine from the bottle to her glass yet again when she heard a familiar sound coming from Noriko's room.

"You know, you can come in through the door!" Claire called without looking up "You don't always-."

Claire stopped mid-sentence as she finally raised her eyes from her drink and to where she'd thought _just_ Noriko was standing.

"Hey, Claire," Noriko said casually as she supported a fair amount of a busted-up Spider-Man's weight "Homecoming got a little crazy."

.

Peter couldn't help the pained huff of air that left his lips as he collapsed on Noriko's couch. On the drive over, she'd explained to him that her legal guardian was a nurse who would patch her up after a night out as the Black Sky. But, she hadn't said much more than that, maybe because of their driver or maybe because she realized he needed a bit to get a handle on everything.

But, now he kind of wished she had elaborated to him more. Because, she and the nurse were definitely not related and he was very curious to how the hell this all came about.

Pain and remembering that she never liked to talk about her past kept Peter from asking. Mostly the pain, though.

"What happened?" The nurse demanded as Noriko kicked her heels off.

"What always happens," she said with a shrug "Try to stop the bad guy and get your ass kicked in the process. Standard stuff, honestly."

"Did you stop him?"

Peter became aware that question was aimed at him and it took a moment before he found his voice to reply.

"Y-Yeah," he confirmed, nodding slightly even though it pained him to do it "I… I beat him."

Something about hearing him speak put the nurse into a different mood and she simply stood there for a second before straightening and turning to Noriko.

"Get the first aid kit."

.

Claire felt the tiniest of a tug at her lips as she kneeled down in front of Spider-Man and saw how his eyes followed Noriko out of the room. Well, it was nice to have some verification that anything that Noriko may harbor for the teenager in front of her was not unrequited.

"What hurts?" Claire asked, going into Nurse Temple mode as she took in the dirt and scrapes that adorned this kid's face.

"Everything," he said simply, Claire actually smiling at that and seemingly putting Spider-Man at ease "Stuff fell on me and he, um, was wearing a suit and stomped on my chest and…"

"Ribs," Claire said in understanding, raising her hands slowly "Okay if I…?"

"Yeah, of course," he said, Claire reaching out to press on the same areas she'd checked on what seemed like every vigilante in New York.

Now that everything had calmed down, Claire could fully take in her patient. Noriko had told her that she'd met him, the _real_ him, but she hadn't really described what he looked like. Now that she was looking at him, though, Claire knew why. No matter how Noriko could try to spin it, she would never be able to avoid the word _cute._ Even in this messed up and dusty state, Spider-Man was _cute._

"So, mind if I ask your name?" Claire said, taking note of how he hissed and recoiled slightly as she applied pressure to a specific spot.

"Noriko didn't tell you?" He asked, sounding surprised.

"She probably thought it wasn't her place to tell," Claire said, knowing how the girl she'd adopted thought.

"It's—." He made another pained sound that let Claire know just how messed up his ribs were "Peter. My name's Peter."

"Nice to meet you, Peter," the Nurse said, leaning back slightly "I'm Claire, Noriko's guardian. You have five broken ribs."

.

Noriko felt slightly self-conscious at the feeling of both Claire's and Peter's eyes on her as she reentered the living room. But, she pushed on and handed her guardian the bulky first aid kit before sitting down on the couch close, but not _too_ close to Peter.

"What's the verdict?" She asked as Claire rifled through the bag.

"Five broken ribs, sprained wrist, multiple cuts, and probably way more I haven't seen yet considering most of him is covered by a hoodie," Claire said before flashing a look between the two teenagers "What the _hell_ happened?"

"Um-." Noriko exchanged a look with Peter as she realized she'd have to explain something she herself didn't know the full story of "Peter's Homecoming date's father was this guy he's been after for weeks. He realized Peter's Spider-Man and they had a fight."

"He-He had a suit with wings," Peter offered weakly, looking to Noriko for support again.

"Like Falcon but bulkier," she added.

"Yeah, and I kind of crashed a plane to keep him from the stuff inside," Peter admitted, his fingers twitching as if he wanted to rub his neck but knew it would hurt to do so "Oh, and-and he dropped a building on me."

"He dropped a _building_ on you?" Noriko demanded, whipping to face him fully. Peter sent her a sheepish smile before answering quietly.

"I mean… I got out?"

The room was full of shocked silence for a long moment before it was finally broken by the sound of Claire raising her hands up into the air as if she was beseeching heaven for answers.

"How did my life get here?" She asked before focusing back in on the matters at hand "Alright , Peter, t-."

Her face screwed up for a second before she finished her sentence and she quickly turned to Noriko with a serious expression.

"You should probably go get changed."

"What?" Noriko asked, feeling at a loss at that sudden suggestion.

"Yeah, go get changed and make some coffee maybe?" Claire offered "Oh, you know what? Go see if there's anything for Peter to change into."

Noriko was at a loss for words for a moment as she tried to fathom why Claire was telling her this. But instead of arguing, she just sent a sympathetic look to Peter before she left the room again.

.

"I thought you might like some privacy," Claire said with a small smile "Take your clothes off."

If it weren't for the situation, Claire might've laughed at how red Peter became when she said that.

"A-All?" He asked, Claire _actually_ laughing at that.

"Let's start with the hoodie and sweatpants, hotshot."

Although he still burned bright, Peter did as Claire said and revealed the multitude of cuts and bruises adorning his chest and legs. Any amusement Claire had just moments ago faded away as she took in the damage that had been done to the teenager.

"Shit," she said under her breath, shaking her head slightly.

"Bad?" Peter asked, Claire hearing the panic in his voice.

"I've seen worse," she said truthfully. The issue wasn't that it was absolutely _horrible,_ it was that… This was a _kid._ Younger than Noriko without a fraction of the experience she had. And here he was, needing medical attention just like any of the adults that had come to her in need.

"Okay," Claire said, pulling on rubber gloves "I'm sure you're expecting this, but I need to tell you that most of what I'm going to do is going to hurt."

"Okay," Peter said softly, sounding like he didn't really like it but was resigned to it nonetheless.

"I'm going to clean the cuts first," Claire said, more to herself than to Peter as she got out the proper supplies "Do your parents expect you home soon?"

"It's just my aunt," Peter said "And-and she thinks I'm going to spend the night with my friend."

"Good," Claire said with a sigh of relief "You should stay the night; I want to keep an eye on you."

"Yeah, sounds good," Peter agreed, hissing as Claire placed a moist cotton ball against one of his cuts.

"Sorry," Claire said, actually feeling the sympathy she was expressing for Peter "… I'm not the only one."

"What?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing at Claire's statement.

"I'm not the only one who wants to keep an eye on you," she said with her eyes glued to the wound she was treating, taking note out of the corner of her eye of the way Peter swallowed harder than usual "You should tell her."

"What are you talking about?" Peter demanded, his cheeks growing pink yet again as he tried to deny that he knew exactly what Claire was saying. Instead of replying, though, Claire just looked at him with a raised eyebrow until he dropped his eyes and turned even redder.

"I'd—She'd—It'd be weird," he said finally "She doesn't—She wouldn't—She'd reject me."

"I don't think so."

Claire held back a smile as Peter's body stiffened and she didn't look up to see the expression on his face.

"What?" he asked softly, Claire finally lifting her head to level him with a significant look. It grew quiet between them as Claire continued to work on his cuts and Peter considered what she'd implied. After ten minutes of that, Claire leaned back to say something, but her eyes slid to the doorway behind Peter.

"Coffee?" She asked hopefully while her hand snaked out and grabbed the blanket resting on the couch's arm; the nurse placing it over Peter's lower half.

"Yeah," Noriko said, entering the room and passing a mug to Claire and one to Peter "I made you tea."

"Thanks," Peter said, only giving her a glance before he lifted the cup to his lips with the same thoughtful look he'd had ever since Claire had given him something to chew on.

"Alright, the nurse's opinion," Claire said, leaning back slightly "I prescribe Advil, a shower, and sleep."

"That's what you always prescribe," Noriko pointed out, Claire sending her a semi-dirty look.

"Well, since none of you ever let me take you to the hospital, it's all I can really do."

"None of you?"

Claire and Noriko exchanged a look at Peter's question; the latter finally responding.

"I've told you about Akuma-san and… and Luke Cage."

Thankfully Peter didn't comment on the look Noriko sent Claire before she finished the sentence and he instead nodded in sudden understanding.

"Is this how you met them?" He asked Noriko "They needed a nurse?"

"That's how I met Luke," she confirmed and causing Peter to furrow his brow.

"What about Daredevil?"

Noriko smiled wanly before she spoke again.

"Go take a shower."

.

"He's cute."

Noriko nearly dropped her mug, but managed to keep hold of it and sent Claire a look. The nurse didn't respond to that, though, and she instead continued her task of cleaning out her cup in the kitchen sink.

"Don't start," Noriko warned, Claire looking over at her with a raised eyebrow.

"All I said was that he was cute."

"Yeah, but I know you," Noriko said "You're going to start going on about other shit real soon."

Claire smiled at that as she placed her mug down to dry before she turned to lean against the counter and face Noriko fully.

"You're right," she admitted "I think you should tell him."

"Tell him what?" Noriko asked, playing dumb as she turned to put her own mug in the sink.

"That you have a crush on him."

 _"Sh!"_ Noriko hissed, whipping to face Claire, who was smiling yet again.

"Oh, yeah, he's going to hear us from the shower," she said, Noriko crossing her arms.

"He might," she said "He has enhanced hearing."

"Sorry," Claire said, her hands up defensively while her smile never dropped "I'm just saying… you should tell him or else you might regret it."

"It's not… It's not that simple, Claire," Noriko said, her eyes dropping to the floor as Claire's expression softened.

"Hey," she said gently, reaching out to place her hand on Noriko's shoulder "I know this seems scary, but this is a part of growing up. Just talk to him and I promise no matter how it goes, things will get better."

It was quiet for a moment before Noriko finally raised her head and Claire felt something funny settle in her stomach as she took in her expression.

"I know you like to pretend I'm normal, Claire, but you can't right now." Noriko took a step back and pulled away from Claire's touch "It's not that simple."

.

Peter couldn't help the small smile that pulled at his lips as he stuck his finger through the hole in the oversized shirt Noriko had given him. That plus the fact it fit more like a dress were all the confirmation Peter needed to know who this had once belonged to.

He'd planned to take a quick shower, but once he was in he couldn't make himself get out. The warm water had soothed many of the pains that ran through his muscles and it had given him some time to consider everything that had happened tonight.

Noriko had dropped _everything_ for him. He hadn't even asked and she'd abandoned her Homecoming to run across the city to help him. And maybe… Maybe part of that was just who she was. She was a good person, an _unbelievably_ good person. But, what Claire had said…

Maybe…

Maybe he had a shot.

Peter walked out of the steamy bathroom and back to the living room, where he found Noriko throwing a pillow onto one end of the couch. For a moment, Peter just observed her. She'd changed out of her dress into an oversized sweatshirt and sweatpants and had removed any sign of the night from her face and hair. She looked like a normal girl again.

She looked like Luna.

"Hey," she said with a small smile "You know where my room is. If you get cold, there's an extra blanket in the closet."

"I'm not taking your bed," Peter protested, Noriko sending him a look that he was very familiar with.

"Peter, you got your ass kicked today," she said, plopping down onto the couch "If anyone deserves a good night's sleep on a mattress, it's you."

Peter chose to not argue with her on this right now and instead took a few steps forward before pausing.

"Can… Can we talk?"

Noriko sent him a funny look before nodding and gesturing to him to sit down next to her. Peter followed her suggestion and it was quiet for a second, both of them recognizing that something was different in the air. Something was hanging between them.

"What's up?" Noriko asked, crossing her arms and leaning back in a forced casual stance.

"I was just… thinking," Peter said finally, Noriko's lips curving upwards slightly in minor amusement.

"About?"

"You."

.

Noriko searched for words to respond with, but nothing came to mind.

Both teens seemed taken aback by Peter's forwardness in that moment and it was quiet between them. When Peter had told her that he'd wanted to talk, this wasn't what she'd expected him to say. She'd thought maybe something about the Avengers or Claire or _anything other than whatever he was talking about now._

But, before she could ask just what he meant by that, Peter spoke again.

"When… When I was fighting Toomes, he saw that I texted someone named Luna. And-And he said that… That he was going to find you and kill you." As he spoke, Peter's words spilled out faster and faster "And I know it's stupid to worry about you getting hurt because you can handle anything, but it _terrified_ me. All I could think about was Toomes hurting you and how that would be my fault. It would be my fault that someone I… I cared about got hurt."

Noriko couldn't help but stare at Peter, who kept his eyes glued to the floor despite- or maybe because of- her gaze. She didn't know what to say; he hadn't said anything about… But it felt like there was something more to this. Something more to this whole night they'd shared.

Even as she wondered what was going on, deep down Noriko knew exactly what was happening.

"Peter…" She said softly, reaching out to take his hand in hers.

Peter made the first move, but Noriko knew there was no way that their lips connected that fast unless she had met him halfway. But, at the end of the day, who cared?

They were kissing.

Neither of them had any idea what they were doing, that much was obvious. But despite the virginal technique, there was something deeper to the kiss than most people had. There was the passion of two people that trusted each other with their lives on a regular basis and the overwhelming feelings that came with finally consummating something long overdue.

It wasn't perfect, but maybe that's what made it so good.

It was real.

Noriko let herself sink into the embrace and felt herself relax more than she ever had in her memory. All those nights she'd spent so confused about Spider-Man suddenly made sense; _this_ was what she'd wanted. This was why she'd brought him sandwiches and why she'd given him that nickname. This was why she wanted him to like her _so badly._

Even to her it seemed a little ridiculous, but some part of her must had known from the moment she'd met him how important he was. He was so _good_ and he tried so _hard._ He was practically blinding in how brightly he shined. That dumb nickname was _right._

Peter was the _sun._

And she…

She was…

 _Wet hair and a heavy heart combined while she sat on the couch; the taste of fear and guilt on her lips. The excruciating understanding of what she was going to do the night before; what she always felt like she was going to do. The unbearable weight of who she was._

 _The knowledge of what was always just around the corner._

 _"Then I can't be normal."_

.

The hand that had been intertwined with his was ripped away without warning and Peter's eyes flew open to watch the girl he had such strong feelings for hurtling herself backwards over the coffee table.

All at once, he came crashing down from his high. He'd misread the situation. He'd done something. Oh god, she hadn't wanted that. She was trying to get _away_ from him.

"I-I'm _so_ sorry," Peter said, standing but putting his hands up to show he wasn't going to try to kiss her again "I-I th-thought—I should've-I-I- I'm so _sorry."_

 _"No, no, no,"_ Noriko said, running her fingers through her hair and shaking her head so fiercely that it actually frightened Peter for a moment "It's not—I'm not—It's—I'm— I liked it—I like you—but—but-."

Heat washed over Peter as the words Noriko were stuttering out sunk in.

She _liked_ him.

If it was any other situation, Peter would've been flipped out in absolute delight; the girl he liked, liked him back!

Unfortunately, it was this situation, and he _was_ flipping out, but not because he was happy.

Peter ignored his aches and hopped over the coffee table to stand across from Noriko.

His eyes were wide as he tried to get a grasp on what was happening with the woman that was usually so strong and stoic. Her fingers were still wrapped up in her hair and her eyes were squeezed shut like she was watching a horror movie. And… And her entire body was _shaking_ like she was freezing to death. He reached up and his hands wavered as he tried to figure out if he should try to touch her or not.

"Wh-What's wrong?" Peter asked, trying to understand what was happening so he could help her.

"It's…" She started, but she shook her head again _"You don't know me, Peter!"_

Peter couldn't help but take a step back from the sudden outburst, but he forced himself to not back off completely.

"W-What—I—What do you mean?" He asked, his eyes running over her with concern plain on his features.

 _"You don't know me. You don't know anything about me!"_ Noriko practically yelled, her hands moving from her hair to gripping the material of her sweatshirt as her eyes began to overflow " _If you did, you wouldn't have done that! You wouldn't like me!"_

"Well—Well, you could t-tell me about you," Peter offered, trying his best "You could tell me why you think I wouldn't like you."

"I want—I want you to know, but I _can't,"_ Noriko said, Peter's heart breaking as he watched her try to rub away her tears.

"Why—Why not?" Peter asked, his brow furrowing as he did everything he could to try to help her.

"I—I _physically_ can't. I'll—I'll-."

Peter was frozen in place as he watched Noriko run out of the living room.

What did he do?

.

It felt like hours of just sitting on the couch and contemplating how he'd caused the girl he cared so much about to have a mental breakdown, but in actuality it was probably just twenty minutes until Claire walked into the living room.

Peter looked at her with wide, glassy eyes as he hopped up.

"I'm-I'm sorry, I don't know-."

"Hey, hey," Claire placated "This isn't your fault, okay? This is… something I probably should've seen coming."

"What happened?" Peter asked, his voice raw.

"Noriko…" Claire shut her eyes and sighed before pushing on "Noriko has a messy background. A lot of it I don't know, because she doesn't like to talk about it. But, I know some of it; the parts I was told and the parts I lived. And what I know… It's bad, Peter."

"She said I wouldn't like her if I knew her," Peter said, Claire dropping her head and shaking it slightly.

"She would say that," she muttered, looking up to the heavens once again before focusing in on Peter "She must think that it would scare you off. Which is… weird."

"Why?" Peter asked, not even entirely sure what he was asking.

"Because she asked me to tell you what I know."

Peter's eyes widened at that. He knew she wanted him to know, but to have _Claire_ tell him?

"You saw the way she reacted," Claire explained softly "It's too much for her to talk about right now. So, she asked me to do it instead of her. And I'll do it if you want me to. But, I'm warning you, Peter: whatever you're imagining right now... it's a thousand times worse. I'll only tell you it if you're ready, because it's… It's a lot."

Peter's eyes followed the path Noriko had taken when she'd run out of the room. The vigilante who would look down a barrel of a gun without flinching had broken down at the intrusive thoughts of her past; could _he_ really handle hearing about it?

Maybe not, but Noriko wanted him to know.

And that's all that mattered.

"Yeah," he said finally "I'm ready."

"Alright, Peter," Claire said with a bitter smile "I'll tell you how I met the Black Sky."


	14. The Black Sky

"Last one!"

Claire didn't exactly feel relieved at that, but it did put her into some state of calm. Six patients barely holding on was something she knew how to handle. She just had to ignore that they were hidden in the wing of the hospital going through renovations and it would be a typical Tuesday night for her.

The boy she was tending to right now needed her undivided attention, but so did every other kid they'd wheeled in here. Claire pulled herself away from him in the hope that one of the other nurses would start trying to break his fever and she turned to the final bed.

Like all the others, the unconscious Japanese girl looked like she had one foot in the grave already. Her skin was deathly pale and when combined with jet black hair that looked like it could reach her hips when she was standing, well, she looked like she already was a ghost.

"What'd the EMTs say?" Claire asked, her fellow nurse making a funny face.

"They didn't really say nothing," Louisa said before sighing "What's going on, Temple?"

Claire bit her lip, but didn't respond to Louisa's question. Mostly because she didn't have an answer. What _was_ going on?

God, Matt, what had you gotten into?

With no brief from the EMT's, Claire went to work trying to figure out what this girl's deal was. A cursory look revealed none of the puncture wounds that the others sported. So, not a junkie or whatever the hell they'd been doing. There were a few cuts, but they were old; some old enough to be light scars across her skin. But, all in all, she didn't look like she should be doing that bad right now. At least, not as bad as the other five people in beds that surrounded her.

Claire placed her hand on the girl's forehead and found that also unlike her fellow patients, she was not burning up. In fact, she was cold; _too_ cold. A quick check with her wrist and neck confirmed what Claire already suspected.

"She's gone."

Even though she knew there were five other dying kids she needed to attend to, Claire couldn't help the feeling that ran through her. It wasn't exactly sorrow or pain. Just… regret. Regret that she couldn't save this girl. Regret for what had happened to her; she didn't know exactly, but going off the grime that covered her and the ragged and stained red dress she wore, it hadn't been good.

 _"Shit,"_ Louisa muttered, letting Claire know that she hadn't been alone in her line of thought "She got prints? Maybe we can find her family."

Claire picked up the girl's hand, half expecting to find the burns on her fingers like the rest of the patients, but instead found neither that or the grooves she was hoping for. Her fingers were completely smooth.

"None," Claire said, her brow furrowing "They must've been burned off a long time ago."

"Damn," Louisa said before looking around at the patients that surrounded her "What kind of junkies do this?"

Claire said nothing in response. In fact, she barely heard what Louisa had said. Her entire mind was completely preoccupied with the hand she held. She wouldn't have noticed if it weren't for the fact the girl's nails were just poking out longer than her fingertips. But, she had and now she couldn't tear her eyes away from the dried blood underneath the girl's nails.

"We've gotta find out what happened to these people."

.

"Hi, Claire."

Claire held back any of the swears and physical blows she wanted to level on Matt right now. Partially because she knew at the end of the day it wouldn't help her situation and partially because she knew Matt would probably take them without complaint like the Catholic martyr he was. Instead, she chose to focus on what was going on here in the hopes she could actually save these people.

"Six patients, nonresponsive, high fever, _no fingerprints,_ " she said, unable to hold back the tone of anger that came from her fear "You wanna tell me what kind of shitstorm you just rained down on me?"

"That's why I'm here."

Claire's jaw tightened and it was quiet for a moment as she considered the man standing across from her. Finally, she looked down the hallway to make sure no one was watching

"In here," she said, leading him into one of the many empty rooms before speaking again "What's the story?"

"It's, um… it's complicated," Matt said, Claire raising an eyebrow at his hesitation.

"Always is with you."

"Remember the last time you patched me up?" He asked, Claire grimacing.

"When you were cut to shreds? Kinda hard to forget," her voice low as she recalled that fateful night.

"Well, the same guy who did that to me, he's the one responsible for your six new patients," Matt said, Claire frowning as she remembered everything that he'd said about that night "Nobu."

"You said he burned to death," she pointed out.

"Yeah. I was wrong."

It was quiet for a long moment as Claire considered the way Matt's shoulders slumped and worry was obvious in every line of his face. She'd known the vigilante long enough to know that there was something weighing heavily on his mind. Something that he wasn't telling her.

"There's gotta be more to this story than that."

Matt swallowed harder than he probably intended and he took a deep breath before replying to Claire's implied question.

"For now I need you to know that every one of these people is still in real danger."

"Okay, I have checked their vitals," Claire said, some of that anger flaring back up "I know, they're hanging by a _thread."_

"No, Claire, I mean even if you manage to save their lives, someone may still come to kill them," Matt said, the nurse shutting her eyes as she realized what he hadn't said.

"And the people who gave them aid?" She guessed.

"Most likely, yes."

"… Wow, Matt," Claire said with sarcasm heavy in her tone "I really have not missed you at all."

"But, look, Claire, nobody knows they're here," Matt said, switching into the defensive vigilante mode that Claire knew more than she'd like "And I'm going to offer you all the protection I can… Plus, you can still send them away."

Claire sent Matt a dirty look before she answered that with a sigh.

"You know I can't do that."

"Thank you," Matt said, the bastard sounding so sincere that Claire wanted to punch him "… I need you to keep your eye on one of them."

"Matt, they are this close to dying; I'm keeping an eye on _all_ of them," Claire said, her hands on her hips as she sent him a look.

"This one's different," Matt said simply "She won't have the wounds like the rest of them. She isn't… She isn't like the rest of them."

A part of Claire wanted to ask for more details, just to make sure who he was talking about. But, she didn't, because she knew she didn't have to. She knew _exactly_ who he was talking about.

"Matt…" she said slowly, tired of delivering this type of information "I'm sorry. She was already gone when they brought her in."

 _"What?"_ Matt demanded, sounding more surprised than Claire had expected "Are you _sure?_ She-."

Suddenly, he stopped talking, his head moving in that way that Claire recognized; he was hearing something.

"Son of a bitch…" He muttered.

"What is it?" Claire asked, knowing that Matt could be hearing her patients right now.

"The Punisher, he... I've got to go," Matt said, halfway out the door before he called back to her "Make sure!"

.

 _"Make sure!"_

That was a demand that Claire had heard more times than she would've liked during her time as a nurse. It always cut deep because it was so deeply associated with telling a virtual stranger the worst news of their life. It went hand in hand with the stage of grief known as denial, which meant that they'd soon be going into the next step and that anger would always be directed at the people who'd "let them die."

But, that wasn't like Matt. He'd seen more death than he'd like to admit and with that brought peace. There usually wasn't denial from him; he should know that death touches everything, even when we're least expecting. _Especially_ then.

Claire didn't know what it was about that, but she now felt anxious. Maybe she'd missed her pulse. She'd been so stressed out by everything happening around her, it was possible. But, it wasn't like her to make mistakes like that, not even when she was under intense pressure. In fact, she was getting used to it.

Instead of internally arguing any longer, Claire walked past the room full of multiple patients that needed her attention and went to the room she'd wheeled that girl into less than half an hour ago.

Her hand enclosed around the doorknob, but for some reason she couldn't get herself to turn it. There was some strange apprehension holding her back, as if some part of her expected to not like what she found on the other side.

Claire shook her head at herself. She had just wound herself up after a long a day, there was no reason to be nervous. Even if the people Matt said might come for the kids were in there, she'd have a chance to call for him or the cops stationed in the hospital. Nothing bad would happen.

Even so, it took her a few more moments of psyching herself up to turn the doorknob and reveal the inside.

There she was on the hospital bed, just as Claire had left her.

Claire entered the room and crossed her arms to stave off the cool air; this room was even less finished than the others, which made it better for storing dead bodies administration shouldn't be privy to yet.

Once she reached the bedside, she grabbed the girl's wrist again before pressing fingers to her neck to double-check. Matt's words had gotten her hopes up, but as the logical part of her mind knew, it was for nothing.

She was as dead as she was when they brought her in.

Claire stood beside the bed for a minute and just considered the girl. She was young, very young now that she was looking. Even though she had nothing to base this off of, she couldn't help but feel she would've been a good kid if it weren't for what had happened to her. If the possibility of that hadn't been taken from her by Nobu.

Claire reached out and took the girl's hand in hers so she could give it a quick squeeze, even though she knew would do nothing for the girl that had been long gone when the nurse first laid eyes on her.

"Sorry, Jane."

After one last sympathetic look, she turned and walked towards the door of the room, her mind already preoccupying itself with her five living patients in the room next door.

"Why did you call me Jane?"

A horrible sound was ripped from Claire's throat as she whipped around to find the girl- the _dead_ girl- pushed up on her elbows. Long gone was the tranquil expression of the deceased, in its stead was curiosity and confusion. She wasn't sure of what to make of Claire, as if _she_ was the strange one.

"Why did you call me Jane?" she repeated, Claire hardly making note of the Japanese accent as she watched the person she'd just pronounced dead sit up fully.

"You-You were-." Was all Claire could manage, the girl's brows pulling together slightly "You were _dead."_

"Not just now," she said with quiet voice and a frown "I was knocked out."

Claire could only gape as the girl who was _definitely_ dead not one minute ago moved her legs over the side of the bed and _stood._ She cocked her head at Claire like she was trying to get a read on her, even though it should be blatantly obvious how she was feeling right now.

"You didn't have a heartbeat," Claire said, her voice getting stronger the longer she dealt with this.

"I never do." Before Claire could demand what the _fuck_ she meant by that, she spoke again in the same soft tone and eyes that pleaded for something unknown "Where is Akuma-san?"

"Akuma— _who?"_

"The Devil," she translated, realization hitting Claire "The one with the horns."

"Yeah, yeah," Claire said, confirming to the girl she knew who she was talking about "He-he had to go."

The girl looked down at the ground as concern painted her expression.

"He promised he'd help me," she murmured, Claire unable to stop herself from feeling sympathy for this girl. She was obviously scared and from what Matt had said, she had reason to be.

"He'll-He's coming back," Claire reassured, her voice gentler now "Until then, you're perfectly safe here."

"Where am I?" She asked, raising her eyes from the floor and looking around the room still under renovation. Although this area had nothing other than grey walls and windows covered with garbage bags instead of glass, there was something in her eyes. It was like this was the most interesting place she'd ever seen.

"Metro-General Hospital," Claire said before frowning slightly and adding an addendum "New York City."

"Hospital," she repeated slowly, still taking in the room as she spoke "The place with doctors."

"Yeah," Claire confirmed, unsure if this was a translation thing or something else.

"Are you a doctor?" She said as she returned to looking at Claire with too much intensity for comfort.

"I'm a nurse. My name is Claire," she said as she remembered what her profession actually entailed "You said you were knocked out, are you okay?"

"I'm fine, just hit on the head," she said casually before shifting subjects like the possible concussion didn't matter "Why did you call me Jane?"

"That's what we call all unidentified women," Claire said with a shrug "Jane Doe."

The girl obviously tried to hide it, but Claire saw the way the corner of her lips pulled down slightly and her eyes dropped to the floor. That had upset her for some reason.

"Why?" Claire asked, the girl looking back up "Why does it matter?"

"I thought you knew something I didn't," she said simply, disappointment obvious in her tone "I was wrong."

"What do you mean?" Claire asked, still unable to understand what was going on. It was like every time she got a handle on the situation, she threw a new curveball.

"I thought you knew that my name was Jane," she expanded, Claire's brow furrowing.

"Your name is actually Jane?"

"I don't know," she said simply "… I'm starting to think maybe I never had one."

"Never-never had a _name?"_ Claire demanded and this time instead of responding, the girl just looked at her with an expression that gave away her irritation; she was getting tired of spelling everything out for her "He must've—he must've called you _something."_

"It wasn't a name," she said, still peeved but now it coincided with something else much deeper as she looked back down to the floor like she was upset "It wasn't like Jane or Claire."

"What was it?" Claire asked, feeling a pit in her stomach as the girl's eyes flicking upwards but she never lifted her head.

"The Black Sky."

.

As soon as the door clicked shut behind her, Claire leaned against it with her face in her hands. She knew if she let herself go, she'd make some sound, she just wasn't sure if it would be hysterical laughter or unmitigated sobbing.

What had Matt gotten himself into?

What had Matt gotten _her_ into?

She knew that Brett wanted her to get him the moment any one of the patients woke up for questioning, but as Claire thought about the lack of heartbeat and the no name, she found herself deciding it was for the best if she talked to Matt first.

"Claire?"

She took a deep, _deep_ breath as she gathered herself. She needed to be calm and collected; that was the only way she could get through this. She was no use to anyone if she fell apart right now. She'd dealt with things like this before, she reminded herself as she straightened up and turned to reenter the makeshift private hospital room.

Any composure she'd managed in those few moments disappeared the moment she laid her eyes on her patient.

"Later-." Claire's voice broke and she had to restart "Later you can take a shower. Let me check you first."

The girl- Claire _refused_ to call her that name she'd given- nodded and stood unnervingly still as the nurse approached her. A bit of the unsettling vibe had been removed, though, when she changed out of that ratty red dress and into the hospital gown. Now she looked less like an undead Homecoming queen and more like a spirit haunting an abandoned hospital, which really set Claire at ease.

"Does anything hurt?" Claire asked, forcing herself to go through the motions of her job as her mind ran rampant.

"No," she replied simply, Claire sighing slightly. It was probably a good thing she didn't have to deal with wounds on top of this, but it would have been a welcome distraction from everything about this girl.

"When was your last period?"

"What?"

"Your menstrual cycle," Claire tried again, hoping this was just a translation issue and feeling something sink in her when the girl frowned "When you bleed from your..."

The girl's brows furrowed and she looked away like she was trying to figure out what Claire was talking about.

"You don't know what a menstrual cycle is, do you?" Claire asked, the girl shaking her head "Right, of course."

"Am I okay?" She asked as if she wasn't missing vital parts of being a living human being.

"You probably don't have one because you're underweight, or maybe it has something to do with you not having a heartbeat." Claire was unable to hold back a sarcastic laugh "Other than those two things, you've got a clean bill of health."

It was quiet for a moment as the girl was unsure of how to react the obvious unease in her nurse's tone and body language.

"When will Akuma-san come back?" She asked finally, her soft voice making Claire regret the harsh one she'd just used.

"I don't… I don't know," she admitted "Soon, though."

When the girl still looked nervous, Claire sighed and placed her hand on her shoulder.

"Listen, if he swore he would help you, then that's what he's going to do," Claire said with a tired but indulgent smile on her lips "That man is many things, but he is not the type to break a promise."

The girl was quiet, but after a moment one corner of her lips pulled up into a small smile that made it so Claire couldn't help but return it.

"Alright," the nurse said, patting on the bed for the girl to sit down "I've got five other patients on a knife's edge. So, stay here and try to get some rest, I'll check on you later."

"Five other patients?" She asked as she pulled the blankets up over her lower half.

"Yeah, they brought them in with you," Claire said, measuring the girl's response "Do you know anything about them? Names? Where they came from?"

She shook her head in response, but there was a funny expression on her face even when Claire smiled.

"That's okay, didn't expect you to," she reassured "I'll check on you in an hour or so."

Claire turned and walked across the room to leave; feeling a little uncomfortable with how quiet the girl was. Right before she shut the door behind her, though, a voice shattered the silence with something even more unnerving.

"Be careful, Claire."

.

Claire should have checked on her sooner, she knew that. But, she also shouldn't have neglected her actively dying patients for as long as she did. They were already understaffed for this and they didn't need the nurse who had taken the lead disappearing for forty-five minutes to try to unravel the mystery of the girl without a name. Plus, she'd heard about the shootout and she took it upon herself to check on Foggy, if only because she knew Matt wouldn't.

Deep down Claire knew that was just an excuse. She could have ducked out for two minutes to check on her before coming back to the pressing matters. But… Claire couldn't handle the thought of repeating what she'd just gone through. Standing along in that room with her had been excruciating, like no matter how loud they talked, they couldn't speak over the unbearable silence caused by the lack of the steady beat that girl should have.

But, time had passed and the patients were stable for now. She couldn't put it off forever.

"You got this?"

"You know it," Louisa replied, Claire smiling thankfully as she left.

The walk to the room was only a minute or so, but doing it allowed Claire a moment to ponder everything that had happened. After the girl had said that rather ominous goodbye, Claire had thrown herself fully into her work and had chosen to not dwell on everything. But with no patients to distract her, her mind was full of all the implications of her last conversation with the Black Sky.

What had these people been doing to her? Why didn't she have a name or know basic things like periods? When Claire had first seen her on that hospital bed, she'd assumed some things about what had happened to her, but now she wasn't so sure.

Who was she?

With those thoughts swirling in her mind, Claire opened the door to her room.

Empty.

Claire's eyes widened before her head whipped around in the hope that she was tucked away in the corner somewhere, but the room was completely devoid of anyone other than Claire. She looked down the hallway in the hope of catching sight of a girl with long dark hair and wearing a hospital gown, but only saw the same grey walls.

Her feet started to move without her even commanding them to; like her body knew her mind was too far into a panic to deal with this situation as she should. She rounded back into the communal room where the five patients were all unconscious.

 _"Louisa."_ Claire's tone of voice set the nurse into emergency mode "The girl who was dead and then wasn't, have you seen her? She wasn't in her room."

"No, I-."

Before Louisa could finish her sentence, Claire was gone and running down the corridors. She checked each room she passed, but the horror inside of her only grew as each one yielded nothing.

Claire stopped and leaned against the wall; this hospital was six floors, there was no _way_ she could find her. Besides, she could have snuck out right after Claire left and was far away from this place. Matt had told her to keep an eye on that girl, why hadn't she listened?

Claire's phone shattered the silence and she reached into her pocket to pull it out, half expecting it to be from Matt to chew her out for something he had no way of knowing about. But, the actual caller made her brow furrow in confusion as she answered.

"Foggy?"

"There is an Asian child in my room."

Claire straightened up while her eyes widened; there was no way.

"Girl with long hair in a hospital gown?" She asked before realizing she needed to expand on that "Says weird shit?"

"So you've met this Asian child," Foggy said, Claire actually laughing at that, but likely due to her relief and not the humor.

"Just, keep her there," she said, already rushing down the hallway towards the elevators "I'll be there in a second."

"You better hurry. With this bullet wound, the eighty pound girl will probably be able to overpower me."

.

The scene that greeted Claire in the hospital room was not one she would have expected. Although, she wasn't sure what _wouldn't_ have surprised her at this point. Foggy still laid in his bed like the last time she saw him, but now the no-name having girl sat at the end of it with her legs crossed, enraptured by the screen mounted to the wall.

"Hello," the girl said, only sparing Claire a glance before she returned to watching the TV.

"Why- Why did you leave?" Claire demanded, drawing the girl's attention with the heat in her voice.

"I… I rested like you said," Her small voice cooling Claire's anger "But then I got hungry and the door was unlocked, so I left."

"Why did you come here, then?" Claire asked, the girl shrugging.

"I couldn't find food," she said "And the door was open."

"Okay, just because a door is unlocked or open, doesn't mean you should go through it," Claire said, the girl frowning like this information was actually new to her "And you can't just leave whenever you feel like it, not without telling someone first."

"I'm… sorry?" The girl said like she wasn't entirely sure that was the right thing to say in this situation, but was giving it an attempt in the hopes it would sooth her.

"It's…" Claire sighed and rubbed her face as the events of the past four hours or so weighed heavily on her. When she opened her eyes again she found that she'd lost the girl's attention to the TV once again.

"She really likes Ninja Turtles," Foggy observed, Claire huffing a sharp breath at the absurdity of it all "So… Did this hospital add a mental institute when I wasn't paying attention or…?"

"I wasn't wrong about weird shit, huh?" Claire replied after she shot a look to the girl to confirm that she wasn't listening to their low voices.

"She told me that she doesn't have a name," Foggy said, making the nurse sigh.

"Yeah, well, that looks like it could be true."

"What?" Foggy asked, Claire smiling wanly.

"Let's just say that our mutual friend is involved." While Foggy grimaced, Claire turned to the girl and spoke a little bit louder "Come on, let's get you back to your room."

She gave Claire a look that was reminiscent of a petulant child who wanted to watch cartoons a little bit longer, but she didn't whine and instead slid off of the bed. She didn't say anything, but she did shoot a quick glance to Foggy before Claire placed a hand on her back to steer her out.

"Hey," Foggy said, causing both women to look back and find that he was holding out a pudding cup "You look like you could use the calories."

She was hesitant, but she took it from him with a small smile that Foggy returned with one of his own.

"Thank you," she murmured before Claire led her out of the room; the latter unable to hold back a smile of her own when the young girl hesitantly returned Foggy's wave.

.

"Are you good now?"

The girl nodded absently as she took a bite out of her sandwich with her eyes locked on the phone balanced against her thighs. Foggy had been right about her and Ninja Turtles; her eyes hadn't moved for even a second once she'd started an episode. Claire couldn't help but smile slightly as she recalled the way her brother's kids would become glued to cartoons whenever they were on screen.

"Alright, I'll check on you soon," Claire said, the girl suddenly perking up.

"Oh, wait," she said, pausing the episode before picking something up off the bed "What's this?"

"Where did you get this?" Claire asked as took the small bottle out of the girl's hand and frowned.

"I found it in an empty room," she said, her eyes still on the shiny item in the nurse's hand.

"It's, um, nail polish," Claire said as she handed the bottle back before remembering the period debacle and explaining "You put it on your nails."

"Why?"

"To look nice," Claire said simply, the silence that followed her response causing something to twist inside of her, which was only exacerbated by the girl's quiet response.

"Oh."

Claire licked her lips as she watched the way the girl studied the nail polish bottle so intensely, like it was something she couldn't quite fathom. Unfortunately, the fact that she found something frivolous like this fascinating didn't surprise Claire. She sighed before she spoke, knowing there was probably a million more important things she should be doing right now, but unable to stop herself.

"I could paint your nails for you."

The girl looked up with surprise in her expression but she soon smiled and nodded; passing the bottle over to the nurse, who settled down onto the bed.

"I'm not great at this," Claire warned as she showed her how to position her hands, but it didn't seem to deter the girl's pleasure. She even made a small sound when the first swipe of color appeared on her nail. It wasn't until Claire was working on her second pointer finger that she spoke again "How old are you?"

"I don't know."

Claire's eyes flickered up the girl's face before returning to the task at hand.

"Do you have a guess?"

She seemed to take it seriously and she mulled it over for a good amount of time before she replied.

"Fifteen. I feel like I'm fifteen."

"Do you feel that for a name?" Claire asked, the girl's head shake unsurprising, but a little disappointing "Well, you should pick temporary one, just to have something to call you."

The girl didn't say anything and it was quiet again as both women contemplated things that were more similar than either would have guessed. It was Claire's voice that eventually split through the silence yet again.

"Can I ask you something?"

"Yes," the girl replied simply.

"Did you always live with Nobu?"

"I don't remember."

Claire frowned and looked up from the last finger in need of being painted.

"What do you mean?" She asked, the girl giving her a look like she sort of expected her to understand by now.

"I don't have memories from before a year ago."

 _"What?"_ Claire demanded, sitting up straight. The girl didn't concern herself with the nurse's shock and instead caught the nail polish bottle before it tipped over "What does that _mean? How?"_

"I just don't," she said, shrugging as if this was something that happened to people regularly "That's why I don't know my name or my age. I don't know anything, just instincts."

"What… What's your earliest memory?" Claire asked, expecting the genuine reply she always got but instead watching as her face closed off and she looked back down at her nails. Claire took the hint and instead pushing, she just painted the last one.

The girl lifted her hands and looked at the nail polish. If Claire was being honest, it was a god-awful color; the glittery purple was not a shade that anyone should've been wearing out and she could see why she'd found this left behind in a room. But, those thoughts slipped out of her mind when the girl smiled.

"It's beautiful."

.

"It's always the last place you look."

The sun had disappeared a long time ago and the rooftop of the hospital was only lit by the glow coming off the street lights below it. The season had fully changed and Hell's Kitchen was in the part of the year where it was warm during the day, but quite cool at night, which meant that the heat coming off the cups in Claire's hands was welcome.

"But you knew I was coming, huh," she continued, looking at the unmasked vigilante.

"I heard you," Matt confirmed "Three stories down."

"You do know that sounds creepy, right?" Claire said, a little bit joking but also sincere. She could never quite get used to Matt Murdock's abilities.

"Yeah, I've been told."

"I brought you coffee," Claire offered, knowing that Matt would likely be out here all night waiting for god knows what.

"No thanks."

"Right, forgot. You like to suffer," Claire said, sarcasm heavy in her voice "Well, the joke's on you 'cause our vending machine coffee really sucks."

She walked over to the edge and threw over one of the cup's contents. It was quiet for a moment as Claire considered the day she'd just had and how she'd gotten through it with the knowledge that when Matt came back, some sense would be made of what was going on. But, now… Now she didn't even know where to start.

"What is it Claire?" Matt asked, sensing her unease.

"I think you know," she replied before sighing "If you could hear me three stories down, then you could definitely hear the heartbeat of someone in the same room as you. You could hear…"

Matt allowed there to be a quiet moment for Claire to gather herself before he responded, his voice low.

"I didn't understand what I was hearing. Behind a locked door, there was movement and breathing, but… It wasn't until she started speaking did I believe it."

"How?" Claire asked, practically pleading with Matt "How can this be possible?"

"I… I'm not sure," Matt admitted, Claire sighing in exasperation.

"Then why?" She asked, Matt's eyebrows raising "Why does not she have a name or remember anything? What was Nobu doing to her?"

"Claire, the less you-."

"Don't give me that _crap,_ Murdock!" Claire exclaimed, shutting him up "You brought her and five other patients to me, now give me an explanation _why!"_

The silence that followed went on long enough that Claire wondered if maybe he would say nothing to her for the rest of the time she spent up here. It wasn't until Matt took a deep breath did she realize she might get some of the answers she was looking for.

"… There's this organization called The Hand. If you asked me two days ago, I would've told you that they were a myth, but now… The Hand is ancient. They claim to have immortality and because of that, they destroyed without a thought. A long time ago, they were pushed back by an army called the Chaste, but they weren't completely destroyed. And now they're here. They're in New York. Apparently because they're after a weapon."

"What kind of weapon?" Claire asked quietly, her mind running through all of the things she saw confiscated from gang members who came through the ER.

"They're not like guns or knives, Claire, they're… They're rare, but there are always three of them at a time." Matt gave a bitter laugh "People always said that death comes in threes."

"Do they have them?" Claire asked, Matt turning his head towards her.

"They had one."

The rooftop was quiet as it sunk in; Claire grasping for some semblance of sanity as she realized what he was saying. The _impossible_ truth that he was trying to make her understand.

"You can't be serious," she said, her voice low "She can't-She's a _person,_ Matt."

"I know, Claire," Matt said, hopping up and pacing across the roof as he ran his hair through his already mussed hair "I didn't… I couldn't believe it when she told me her name, but now…"

"She's just a kid, how can she be a weapon?" Claire asked, feeling a swell of something inside of her towards the small girl she knew was watching Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles a few stories down.

"Claire, not everything about her is what it seems," Matt said, sounding agitated "When I was down there with Nobu, he- I wouldn't be here if it weren't for her, okay? She's not _just_ a kid."

"But, she _is_ a kid."

It was silent between the two for a long moment before Matt sighed and plopped back down onto the place he'd been sitting on before. When he responded, his voice revealed just how heavy the weight on his shoulders was.

"I don't like it any more than you do, Claire," he sighed "Maybe this is all bullshit; that girl down there isn't a weapon and this was all made up by some insane cult leaders. But those people that had her… they believe it. And that's all that matters. They _will_ come for her."

"… Then what do we do?" Claire asked softly, feeling like she was beginning to carry that same burden as Matt.

"I don't know," Matt admitted, Claire sighing as she realized how many times she'd heard that phrase in the past twenty- four hours.

.

For a wonderful split second, everything that surrounded her disappeared. The shock of falling only to crash through a window drowned out the flashing lights and alarms and it wiped away any of her memories of the past minute for a brief moment in time.

But in an instant everything came back.

The patients murdering that man, intruders in the hallway, _Louisa._

Claire groaned as the pain came flooding in; her body screaming at her for the abuse it had endured from the man that had attacked her and the pain of going through a window after falling out a higher one. She was vaguely aware of movement, but she was too wrapped up in her own situation to ask Matt how he was doing.

In fact, she had resigned herself to laying on the cold linoleum until help came until the man beside her spoke.

"The Black Sky."

Once again, it was as if her body knew what to do while her mind worked itself into a frenzy. Claire wasn't entirely how she got to her feet, but she found herself following after Matt, even when he chose to climb the stairs instead of taking the elevator. She lagged behind, but she managed to get to the doorway to lean on it not long after Matt threw it open.

And there she was, sat on the hospital bed with her legs crossed.

"Stay here, I'm going to follow them," Matt said to both of the women before he ran off, the girl watching him run away with an indiscernible expression before turning her eyes to Claire. It was quiet for a moment as Claire considered her; she'd only known this girl for a day, but she could read on her face that something was up. She pushed herself up to support her full weight and took a few steps forward.

"Are you okay?" Claire asked, feeling her nursing instinct taking over even when she nodded slowly "Then what's wrong?"

The girl's eyes slid to the side of the bed people near the door couldn't see before returning to Claire with the same unnerving stillness. Claire considered not taking another step closer and just leaving. Being a part of this had already caused the death of her friend, why should she keep doing this? She should walk away now.

Her feet moved, but they didn't follow the logical part of her brain. Instead they pulled her forward to see just what the girl had motioned to.

Claire stumbled backwards as her hands flew to her mouth. No sound came out, though, as if she was too horrified to even gasp. The same concept applied itself to how she found herself unable to remove her eyes from the scene in front of her.

Two ninjas like the ones that Matt had struggled to hold back were flat on their backs with their eyes to the ceiling. Their blank stares were uncomfortably familiar for the nurse as they held the type of vacancy that would never be filled. And even though the room was too dark for her to be able to discern the true color of the puddle under their heads, she knew full well what she was seeing.

"I told you to be careful."

.

The silence between the two was unbearable, but neither said anything until the door was shut. No one should hear what would come next, but this was the ugly conversation that they needed to have.

"I guess…" Matt started slowly, now changed out of his suit into his street clothes "She'll live with me. I'll be able to protect her."

"For how long, Matt?" Claire asked, her voice low and raw, but understandably so after what had happened "Those people… They will always be after her. Neither of you can live like that forever."

"I'll figure something out."

Claire scoffed and walked across the room while shaking her head; Matt frowning as he picked up the tension in her movements. But, he said nothing, knowing that she'd air her grievances when she was ready.

"When are you going to admit that you're in over your head?" She asked as she cleaned up a few of the supplies she'd used for her own wounds.

"What else can I do?" Matt asked, challenging but still quiet.

"I don't know," Claire answered honestly, looking over at Matt "But I do know that there is no way either of you can live a life if she stays with you."

"She's not normal, Claire," Matt said, getting exasperated "She can't live a normal life."

"She at least deserves a _chance,"_ Claire replied, her own heat building.

"You saw what happened today," Matt exclaimed "This will keep happening. She can't have a foster family or go to school like a normal teenager; she needs to be kept away from these people."

"Keep her away from them because she's a person who deserves to be free?" Claire asked, throwing her arms out "Or keep her away because she's a weapon that they'll use?"

"Why can't it be both?" Matt asked Claire shaking her head in disbelief.

"Because she's not a weapon, Matt," she spat out "It doesn't matter what The Hand says or what she can do. She's a person and people _aren't_ weapons."

Both of the adults turned away from each other, as if they simultaneously realized that they couldn't do this right now. That their anger wasn't going to solve anything. Only once Claire felt that her emotions were reined in enough for her to be rational did she split through the tension between them.

"I can't stop you," she said simply, her voice returning to the quiet pain of before "I can't stop what you choose to do here. But I can tell you what I think. This won't be good for either of you."

Before Matt even opened his mouth, Claire knew that her words had made no difference. He had made his decision and no matter what she said, it would change nothing.

"I'm sorry you see it that way."

.

Claire watched with crossed arms and a concerned expression as she watched the young girl listen to Matt. She had shaken off the unnerving evenness caused by her run-in with those members of The Hand and she now wore a look of serious contemplation. She was quiet the entire time he spoke and only once he was finished did she speak. But she didn't ask any of the questions Claire had expected; in fact she seemed utterly uninterested with the fact that he was a blind vigilante. She only cared about one thing.

"I am going to live with you."

It wasn't a question, just a statement of the facts.

"Yes," Matt confirmed "I can protect you from The Hand."

It was quiet for another moment as she seemed to absorb all of the things Matt had said. When she finally replied, her expression held no interest or even gratefulness, just resignation.

"Okay."

Claire watched with a frown as she closed the space between them and held out her hand; the purple nail polish resting on her palm. For a moment, Claire floundered as she tried to figure out why she was offering this to her until it clicked.

"You can keep that."

The girl tilted her head in what Claire assumed to be confusion before her eyes flashed down to the bottle. She looked at it for a second before her fingers curled around it tightly, like she was scared that someone would try to take it from her.

.

Maybe she should move.

That was all Claire could think as she padded around her apartment. It wasn't like there was anything here for her anymore: she'd quit her job over their bureaucracy. She realized that they only looked out for themselves and the money. They were going to bury the truth of what had happened to Louisa and the autopsies of those men that had died attacking the hospital.

Now that her job was gone, maybe it was time to get away. Not to leave this city; Claire didn't think she'd ever be able to do that. But… the more she thought about it, the more it became apparent:

Hell's Kitchen had nothing left for her.

Claire was startled out of her thoughtful position at her kitchen table by a sharp tapping sound. She was still for a moment before she forced herself to stand and walk over to her front door. She paused before she looked through the peephole, though, as anxiety washed over her. After everything she'd been through the past 48 hours, she didn't feel so quick to trust a surprising knock on the door.

Claire shook her head at herself before leaning forward to peer out to the hall. Before she even fully understood what she was seeing, she unlocked the door and wrenched it open, revealing her unexpected visitor.

"Hello."

She still wore the hoodie and sweatpants from the hospital lost and found and her hair was still the bizarrely long length as it was when she'd left a few hours ago. But, something about her was different from when Claire saw her last. Something had changed; something in her eyes.

"W-What are you doing here?" Claire demanded as she ushered her inside. The girl looked around the apartment with fascination as she absentmindedly replied.

"I needed somewhere to go. I thought of you."

Claire's mind raced as she tried to get a grasp on what she'd said before she finally settled on one of many questions she had.

"Where's Matt?"

"I don't know," the girl said, crossing the room to study Claire's bookshelf "Maybe back at his apartment. Maybe looking for me. What's this?"

"Th-That's a corkscrew. For opening wine bottles," Claire said, the girl studying it a moment longer before placing it back down "Why did you need somewhere to go?"

"Someone tried to kill me," she said casually, holding up a small, thin tube "What's this?"

 _"What?"_ Claire exclaimed, her eyes growing wide _"Who?"_

The girl's eyes flashed down to the unknown item and back to Claire before she answered.

"I'm not sure. Old man." she frowned as she recalled the events "Not a member of The Hand."

"Wait, wait, _not_ a part of The Hand?" Claire asked, taking a few steps forward "How many people are after you?"

"A lot, I guess," she said before raising her hands slightly in the hope that it would push Claire to explain what she was holding.

"It's chapstick. Goes on your lips," she said, slightly exasperated despite how the girl smiled slightly at the information "How did you even find me?"

"Wasn't hard," she said, picking up another item "What's-?"

 _"Enough,"_ Claire exclaimed, taking the beauty blender out of her hands _"What is going on?"_

The girl dropped her eyes to the floor when Claire yelled and it was a long moment before she answered in a small voice.

"That man showed up and was talking to Matt. They knew each other. They argued about me and then he tried to attack me, but Matt stopped him and told me to run. So, I ran and then I decided I should find you."

"… Are you alright?" Claire asked, her voice low "Did he hurt you?"

"No," the girl said, lifting her head slightly to look at Claire through her lashes "He didn't get the chance."

There was a heavy silence in the room for a moment before Claire sighed and nodded.

"Good."

Claire ran her eyes over the young girl who shifting uncomfortably in her living room. Any of the wide eyed curiosity she'd displayed was gone now and replaced with hesitation and anxiety. Claire knew she shouldn't have yelled at her; she just wanted to know what the world around her held.

"Hey."

The girl looked up at her and Claire could fully consider her face. There was definitely something different about her, Claire just wasn't sure what. Maybe it was what she'd experienced; nearly being killed and then wandering New York had to have been somewhat traumatic, no matter what she'd been through before. Since she wasn't physically harmed, though, Claire went to what her Mama had taught her about dealing with emotional pain.

"Are you hungry?"

.

Her spoon rattled loudly against the bowl every time she went back for a bite, but Claire didn't reprimand her. From the way she was eating, it was obvious she hadn't had anything in a while, and who was it hurting if she ate a little noisily?

She only paused for a moment when Claire's phone rang before she returned to shuttling the food from the bowl into her mouth. Claire looked down to see a familiar number and answered it, a small smile on her face as she did.

"She's here."

"W-," Matt stumbled before gathering himself "Is she alright?"

"Yeah," Claire said, standing from the kitchen table to grab the pot on the stove "She really likes tomato soup."

She smiled widely when Claire poured more into her bowl before digging back into it as she seemed to pay little attention to the conversation going on around her.

"Just, keep her with you; I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Al-." Claire sighed as she realized he'd hung up before she could even finish that word "Well, Matt's coming to get you."

She turned from where she'd been placing the pot in the sink to see that the girl's movements had slowed. Her relaxed expression had disappeared as well and was replaced with a thoughtful concern that Claire recognized as being caused by unease.

"What is it?" Claire asked, waking her out of her reverie. She was quiet for a moment before she responded, like she was truly thinking out the words she said.

"The man who came to kill me… He called me it. He said I wasn't a person. That I was just a weapon and that's all I'd ever be… He said that I was just meant to kill and there was no way I could not."

Claire sat down slowly in her chair as she absorbed her words; how anyone could look at this girl and think that was beyond her. But, she had to acknowledge that people thought that and those same people were out to kill her because of it.

"Is he right?"

Claire's head snapped up to see the way her eyes were studying her, as if she thought that Claire would have the actual answer. And it soon occurred to her that she _did_.

"No."

The girl's head tilted as if she was actually listening to what she was saying and wanted to hear more.

"You're a person," Claire said, her conviction growing stronger with each word "And people decide what they do. If you choose to kill, than you can and face the consequences. Or you can not kill and… and you can face the consequences of that choice. From here on out, everything you do is up to you."

"I can do whatever I want?" She asked, Claire laughing slightly.

"Yes, but keep in mind there're things to gain and things to lose with every choice: good or bad," she said "It's up to all of us to decide who we're going to be and… and I'm not going to lie that it's scary and hard and you will make the wrong choice sometimes. But…"

"But you still get to decide," she finished quietly, Claire able to see that her words had meant something. She was truly absorbing it and understanding; it was her choice now.

.

"Hey."

Claire almost smiled at the way Matt rushed into her apartment; even though she had her doubts about how this would affect them, she couldn't deny that he cared in some way about the girl.

She followed after him and caught up in time to hear him speak as he stood beside the kitchen able.

"Are you alright?"

"Yes," she replied casually, taking a bite out of the toast Claire had made for her. It was uncomfortably quiet for a moment; it occurring to Claire that Matt might think she was upset with him. The more she thought about it, the more she realized she might actually _be_ upset with him.

"… I'm sorry," Matt finally said, the girl looking up at him "I should have realized what Stick was going to do and stopped him before he ever got the chance."

"I don't blame you." The obvious genuine tone of her words putting Matt at ease even though she returned to looking straight ahead. It was quiet for a long moment with the only sound being the munching of toast.

"When you're done, we'll go back to the apartment," Matt said, the girl swallowing her bite before answering.

"No."

For one brief second, the silence was deafening.

"What?" Matt asked, his confusion evident in his tone.

"No, thank you," she revised "I don't want to go back to the apartment."

Claire brought a hand to her face as she realized what was going on.

"Where- Where do you want to go?" Matt asked, sounding suspicious.

"I'm not sure," she admitted before shrugging "I'll figure something out."

"You'll…" Matt trailed off in confusion before picking back "You can't do that. This city is unsafe."

"I'm unsafe," she replied calmly "And-And I'm a person and I've decided that I don't want to stay with you."

Matt rounded on Claire with a stricken look.

"What did you tell her?" He demanded. Instead of replying, Claire just turned to the girl sat at the table.

"Listen, you can make your own choices, but I don't think you're considering the consequences. Where're you going to sleep? What're you going to eat?"

"Like I said, I'll figure something out," she replied, garnering a quick, hysterical chuckle from Matt.

"How do you expect me to protect you from The Hand?" He asked "I can't if you're wandering around the city."

"I never asked you to."

"What?" Matt demanded, his hands on his hips as his confusion grew.

"I never asked you to protect me from The Hand," she said, raising her head for the first time during this conversation and looking at Matt "I only asked for help and I thank you for it. But, I don't need anyone to protect me."

"What about protecting people from you?" Matt asked, Claire swallowing hard as he went for the throat "You murdered two of The Hand's people without a thought. That's not somebody I can trust running around my city."

"You shouldn't worry about that; I've also decided I won't kill people."

Once again, a choice made by this girl rendered the two adults speechless. It was Claire who was able to gather herself together first and reply and even then her words were slow.

"You won't kill people?"

"They were always telling me to do it, so I've decided I won't anymore," she said simply, Matt throwing his arms up in the air slightly.

"This is insane," he said heatedly "I can't just let you go out there on your own."

"It's not your decision."

The tense words being exchanged between the two faded into the background as Claire considered the past two days. So much of it had been spent with or thinking of the young girl that sat at the table right now and here she was, arguing with Matt. A part of Claire agreed with both sides: she understood why she didn't want to live with Matt. She would never be completely free of suspicion under his roof and her life would continue to be one of confinement. But, Claire also knew that she couldn't be wandering New York alone. But, what compromise was there?

Suddenly, the fog of thoughts in her conscious cleared and it all fell into place.

"She can stay with me."

Both heads snapped to look at Claire, who looked between their confused expressions with tranquility that she hadn't expected to feel. It was almost as if this was something she always expected to happen, even before she met the girl standing in her kitchen.

"If you want, of course," Claire added before continuing "This way you can have somewhere to stay and Matt can keep an eye on you, but you don't have to stay with him."

"Claire, I don't think-."

"Okay."

Both adults looked over to her with surprise on their face, but she was being genuine. In fact, she was smiling.

"I would like to stay with you," she continued with a pleasant enthusiasm that made it so Claire was unable to hold back a smile of her own. But, it slipped off of her expression when she turned to look at Matt, who had wearing one of deep consternation.

But, when he spoke, it was the last thing Claire was expecting.

"If that's what you want, I won't try to stop you."

The girl's expression suddenly morphed into a wide grin that Claire couldn't help but love.

"It is."

.

"You need a name."

Claire had split through the silence between the two women with that sentence. The apartment had been quieter once Matt left, which had been nice, and they'd both needed a few hours to get a grip on all of this. But Claire had long since finished explaining the basics of living in an apartment and now they were watching cartoons; she knew it was time for this conversation. She glanced over to the girl sitting at the other end of the couch, who didn't take her eyes off the TV to respond.

"All the names I know are the ones of people I've known," she admitted, Claire nodding slightly.

"You could take one of those," she pointed out, the girl lolling her head over to look Claire in the eye.

"I don't like many of the people I've known."

Claire couldn't help the chuckle that left her lips at that and the girl smiled as well. It was quiet again for a moment before Claire spoke again.

"Well, we can look at some baby name websites," she offered "But you _really_ don't know any other names?"

The girl frowned as she thought about it; her mouth opening for a second before shutting again as she continued to consider Claire's question. When she finally answered, the face she wore was of utmost concentration.

"Have you ever heard the name Totoro?"

Claire's head snapped to look at her, the girl looking slightly abashed at the expression.

 _"Totoro?"_ Claire demanded "You-You know the name _Totoro?"_

"Yes?" She said, taken aback by the response.

Claire grabbed her phone of the coffee table and fumbled with it as she opened Google. After a moment of cursing her slow internet access, she turned the phone so the girl could see the images on screen.

"Him. Do you recognize him?" Claire asked. The girl was quiet for a moment before small smile spread across her features and she nodded. Claire gave a small laugh before speaking again "Y-You must've seen it. Do you remember seeing the movie?"

"No," she admitted, Claire still smiling despite that.

"If you remember him… We've got to rent it," she said, going to look it up before pausing "Not the English dub, we should get the Japanese one."

As Claire began her search for the original version of _My Neighbor Totoro,_ a loud sound came from above them, causing the girl to jump. Claire simply rolled her eyes at her neighbor's rowdiness before she spoke.

"We should move."

The girl looked over and Claire noticed that her expression displayed a surprising amount of confusion.

"Why?"

For a moment, Claire considered all the reasons. It was a no-brainer now that there was a new resident. They would need an apartment with two rooms so the girl didn't have to sleep on the couch her entire life. Maybe in Harlem, that way she could be closer to her Mama if she needed help with introducing her into society.

But, she knew the real reason why she wanted to move. It wasn't that the neighbors were loud or that they needed a bigger place. It was the same reason she'd been pondering before she'd shown up at her front door and changed her life forever.

Hell's Kitchen wasn't safe.

That was a silly revelation to have; of _course_ it wasn't safe. Ask anyone in New York and they would tell you that. The crime rate in this part of the city was still uncomfortably high even after Daredevil stepped onto the scene. Hell's Kitchen had never been safe.

It wasn't just that it was unsafe, though; it was that it was unfamiliar.

Claire didn't recognize the part of the city she'd made her home. Everything was different now that she knew what she lived in was barely the surface. She now knew that if she dug deeper, she'd see things she could never even imagine. That girl had shown that to her. The underbelly of Hell's Kitchen wasn't just gangs and drugs anymore. There was something that had existed for far longer than this city had. Something that she couldn't even fathom.

The Amazon page with the Japanese version finally loaded and Claire looked at the options of pricing and shipping, not noticing the way the girl moved to look over her shoulder at the screen.

Claire wondered why she couldn't see it. If anyone should know that it wasn't safe, it should be her. She should want to get out of here and move somewhere far away from where they'd kept her prisoner. She should understand why they needed to move.

"Claire."

She turned when her name was said with desperation and saw it. Her eyes were wide as she looked at the phone; pointing at the name of one of the voice actors when she was unable to verbalize what she wanted. What she needed Claire to know.

But, that didn't matter, because Claire understood.

She understood everything now.

She realized what she'd seen in her eyes when she opened the door; she realized what had changed. She'd read this all wrong. There was no point saying that it wasn't safe, she'd argue until Claire gave in. Wandering around New York hadn't scared her the way Claire thought it had, it had done the exact opposite. There would be no getting her to move, not unless it was within this neighborhood.

It was too late.

Hell's Kitchen was in Noriko's bones.


	15. And Spider Man

When Peter Parker first got his powers, he thought he was going to die.

Having his senses dialed up to an impossible extreme without fully understanding what was going on was terrifying. How could he ignore that he didn't need to wear glasses anymore because his real vision was like constantly looking through a microscope? How did he rationalize the fact that he could smell the cookies the woman four stories above him was baking? How did he explain to Aunt May that the reason he wasn't eating dinner wasn't because he was worrying about his weight or anything, but because he could painfully taste exactly how overcooked the food was?

But the worst of all was his hearing.

Living in a city like New York meant overstimulation even when he was normal, but when he had gained the _enhanced_ hearing… Every car out on the street below sounded like it was driving straight through his room. Every shrill fire alarm set off by an oven in his building made him feel like his head was splitting in two. Every time that guy three floors down brought a girl home was like… Well it made really awkward whenever he passed him in the hallways.

But, he didn't just give into it. He adapted. Peter learned the tricks for keeping it all down to something manageable. He learned how to ignore the burnt taste and smell to food and how to relax his eyes enough that he didn't focus on the lint stuck to his teacher's sweater during class. The goggles were useful for when he engaged his abilities and didn't want to be distracted by the tiny details of the mugger and if the hearing ever got to the point he couldn't ignore it, he'd put his earbuds in and play nothing; the momentary obstruction usually enough to gather himself.

But he had none of that right now.

He was uncomfortably aware of everything that surrounded him. He saw every single line that cut across Claire's face; a reminder that even though she was still fairly young, she had seen more than most people saw in a lifetime.

His throat tightened and he swallowed hard as he smelled the bloody cotton balls she'd thrown into the garbage and the bleachy odor of whatever she'd used to clean his cuts. All of it an unpleasant reminder of what his body had gone through tonight.

But, it was all pushed to the back in favor of what he could hear.

The apartment around him would be categorized as quiet by normal people, but to him... He could hear the slight buzz of the lightbulb in the kitchen and the way Claire was controlling her breathing; she was trying to keep her nerves from sending her into panicky territory. He could hear the slightest of creaks from a few rooms away as a bed settled under the weight it carried and the softest of splashes when a drop of water hit soil.

And he could hear her.

He could hear the way her hair strands brushed against each other when she ran her fingers through it; the way teeth pulled and tore slightly on the skin of her lower lip; the way each breath she took was deep, like she was continually staving off another panic attack.

But most of all, Peter could hear the steady beat of Noriko's heart.

.

"O-Oh, I'm-."

The creak of the hinges should've been enough to alert Noriko to the new presence in her room, but she was too far gone in her reverie to notice until those stuttered out syllables reached her ears. She looked up to see Peter standing in her doorway with a red face and his eyes anywhere but her. It took her a moment before she realized why and when she did, her cheeks reddened slightly as well and she reached across her bed to grab what she'd discarded earlier.

"I'm sorry," Peter mumbled "Should've knocked."

"It's fine," Noriko reassured him as she pulled the hoodie on. Under any other circumstance she'd be teasing him about it, but those words didn't even come to mind now. All she could think of was how he might've seen something more than just a girl in a sports bra.

It was quiet as both teens looked everywhere but each other. Noriko wasn't sure what was driving Peter's discomfort more, but her suspicions were that it was not her previous half nakedness. Maybe he was trying to figure out how to tell her he didn't feel comfortable with her any longer or maybe he wanted her to leave so he could go to sleep and he didn't know how to ask. She was never good at judging the nuances of human reactions when it wasn't derived from violence or spelled out for her, so she had nothing to go on before Peter spoke.

"I can… I can hear your heartbeat."

Noriko looked up at Peter and found that he was looking at her with the question plain in his eyes. She averted her gaze to the smallest of the succulents that sat on her window ledge before she answered, her voice raw after the tears she'd shed earlier.

"One morning I woke up and it was there," she said simply "I guess… when I was treated like a human, I became human."

"You were always human."

"Thank you," Noriko said softly, looking over at Peter with shining eyes "But not everybody agrees with you."

It was quiet again, but only for a moment before Noriko reached out and patted her bed; Peter took a second before he accepted her offer and treaded across the room to sit opposite of her. Only once he was situated with his legs crossed and facing her did either of them speak.

"How… How much can I ask about this?" Peter asked gently "Because I don't want you…"

"To freak out on you again?" Noriko finished, the teenager across from her looking up with concerned eyes.

"I don't want you to hurt."

For a second, Noriko's mind failed to supply her with any words to respond with before she finally got it together and replied.

"It's okay. I'll be okay," she promised "Ask whatever you want."

Peter took a deep breath as he considered all the things he wanted to say. There were too many to sort through, so instead he just asked the question that came to mind first.

"Do you still not remember anything?"

Noriko took a moment to think before she shook her head slowly and answered.

"Sometimes there are flashes, but it's more of the same. Just The Hand." She took a deep breath " _Always_ The Hand."

"So, your parents…?" Peter's question went unfinished as Noriko shook her head again "Why?"

"What do you mean?" Noriko asked, her head tilting to the left slightly.

"Why do you not remember?" He asked, his voice gaining a desperate edge "Do you know? Or-Or have a guess?"

The moment he asked, Peter realized he'd hit on something. Noriko readjusted and sent a look back to her plants like she hoped they would answer so she didn't have to. Even though Peter was anxious to find out what had happened to her, he realized immediately he might've pushed too far.

"S-Sorry," he said simply, Noriko looking over at him in surprise "You-You don't have to answer that."

"No, no. It's—I—." Noriko took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair "I knew you were going to ask, I'm just not sure how to explain. How to… How to say it so you..."

She sighed tiredly and in that moment, Peter could see just how much all of this weighed on her.

"… You don't… After everything I've heard tonight, you can just say it. I'll listen. I-I can handle it," Peter said gently, warmth rushing through Noriko at his words. She gnawed on her lip for a moment more before she steeled herself; she couldn't pull any punches on this. No more shifting the burden to Claire, she just had to tell him and take his reaction as it came.

"Oh god."

Noriko couldn't help the way Peter's cracking whisper pulled at her lips as she tugged off her hoodie to reveal her torso again. Once she'd thrown it to the side, she felt herself soften considerably at the way Peter kept his eyes glued to her closet door.

"Hey," she said gently, Peter flickering to look at her face before returning to staring behind her with even redder cheeks than before "I need you to look. I'm showing you."

Noriko watched as Peter's ears tinged pink before he took a deep breath and turned his eyes onto her torso. But, his embarrassment melted away the longer he looked at her and was replaced with something deeper; he was seeing what she was showing him. He lifted his hand for a second before he dropped it back down as his manners came back to him.

"It's okay," Noriko said quietly "You can… It won't bother me."

Peter's eyes met hers for a moment before he returned them to her torso. It took another second for him to fully respond and even then it wasn't with words; he raised his hand again and this time didn't stop himself from running his fingertips over her arm.

Noriko forced herself to keep breathing steadily, which proved difficult when Peter's nails caught against the rough lines that ran all over her body. But, she managed to keep it together enough so that she didn't scare Peter off and she stayed quiet until she could tell that he was starting to get it.

"I know there's… a lot," she said, Peter's eyes raising and locking with hers "But, I'm showing you this one." She tapped on the spot below her bra where the darkest and largest scar cut through her skin vertically "And the… The matching one on my back."

Noriko took a deep, shaky breath once those words left her lips and Peter's brow furrowed as he tried to grasp what she was telling him. But, he realized that the moment she had taken wasn't because of what she'd said, but because of what she was _about_ to say.

"Immortality isn't the power of staying alive; it's of not staying dead."

Noriko heard the way Peter's breath caught in his throat when it clicked. When he finally understood just how deep The Hand was imbedded in her.

For a moment Noriko wondered if maybe he wouldn't believe her. She wouldn't blame him if he didn't. Reconciliation of modernism and mysticism was something that all people struggled with when faced with the latter, especially when the person possessed a scientific mind the way Peter did. He had once explained to her how he'd developed the web shooters and Noriko knew from his tone of voice how much it the subject meant to him, which made this whole matter even trickier. But, she had to tell him. He had to know the complete truth. And now the question was how much he would hold on to and how much he could let go.

Peter reached out again, but this time it wasn't to run his fingers over her scars and instead was to grab her hand in his. A soft huff of breath left Noriko's lips as he squeezed tighter than he probably realized, but she didn't mention it. In fact, it felt kind of nice; a reminder that she'd told him everything and he was still here. She hadn't scared him off completely.

"Who-Who…?" His question trailed off, but he didn't have to finish it for Noriko to understand. Instead of replying verbally, she just let her shoulders lift before slumping back down. Peter nodded slightly to show that he understood; in fact, he'd been expecting that answer.

"So… Now you know," Noriko said, her voice barely above a whisper as her eyes focused on where her hand was still wrapped in his "Now you know _everything."_

"… Not everything," Peter said after a moment, Noriko looking up with her eyebrows raised the slightest bit "I don't know why you thought that I wouldn't like you when I learned about all of it."

A beat of heavy silence filled the room and for a moment, it seemed like that would be the only response given. Noriko's furrowed brow and eyes that flickered over Peter only added to her lost expression, which made it unsurprising that when she spoke, her words _were_ a whisper.

 _"What?"_

"Noriko, I don't care—I mean, I _care._ I care that people hurt you and I'm here for you if you want me to, um, I mean, I support you like- I-I-," Peter groaned and ran his fingers through his hair in frustration "Why can't I just say what I want to say?"

"Peter..." Noriko said quietly, but only got a vigorous head shake.

"Just…" Peter sighed before reached out and taking Noriko's other hand in his; his next words coming out faster as he tried to speak without second guessing himself "I've known the Black Sky for almost eight months now. I didn't know anything about her past until tonight, obviously, but it was still her and… And the Black Sky isn't some evil organization's weapon, she's a _hero."_

Noriko dropped her eyes to where her hands were tightly held in Peter's.

"I'm not…" She muttered, Peter sighing but with an obvious indulgent edge.

"You are," he said simply, letting go of one of Noriko's hands so he could nudge her chin and return her gaze to him "I-I get why you say you're not, but you _are._ You help anyone who asks a-and you don't just beat up the bad guys, you try to help them too; every time we ever worked together, you always gave them at least a chance to-to walk away. And you do all of it just because you can. That's the Black Sky- the _Noriko_ I know and what happened to you doesn't change that. And it doesn't… It doesn't change how I feel about you."

The silence that filled the room was heavy with the emotion of the words that had just been spoken. Now Peter was the one to lower his eyes to where the two teenagers still had their hands interlocked; this time, he'd been the one to lay it all out and now he just had to wait.

"… Peter," Noriko's voice would be barely audible to the average person, but Peter could hear the exact way it wobbled with whatever feelings she had right now "I… You know how I feel."

"I do?" Peter asked, looking up to meet Noriko's eyes.

"I told you," she reminded him gently, Peter recalling the words that had tumbled out of her right after they'd... He'd sort of assumed that had just been a heat of the moment kind of thing, but now she was saying…

"You meant that?" He asked hesitantly, as if he couldn't quite believe what was happening here. After everything that had happened tonight- everything that had happened since he first _met_ Noriko- this might be working out.

"Of course I did," Noriko said, but even though that pulled at Peter's lips, her expression didn't change from the heavy and conflicted one she'd been wearing ever since he'd entered her bedroom. And, it would seem there was a reason for that.

"It doesn't matter."

"What?" Peter asked, any semblance of a smile slipping away at Noriko's quiet but firm words.

"It doesn't matter," she repeated "We can't be together."

And all at once, any hope that Peter had fooled himself into having crashed and burned around him.

"W-What—Why?" Noriko shook her head slightly as Peter watched a bitter expression transform her face into something that made his stomach twist uncomfortably.

"One of them broke into my apartment a week ago, Peter, and I know- I _know_ they must be watching me and just _waiting_ for the right time to…" Noriko took a deep breath to try to push down the anger that was working its way up inside of her and it was quiet. When she spoke again, her voice held none of the fire it had only moments ago and was instead soft and filled with a jumble of emotions that Peter didn't even begin to try to decipher.

"They'll kill you, Peter. They'll do it in a heartbeat if they think it will get them closer to getting me back and I can't… I can't do that. I can't handle being the reason you get hurt. I can't handle the thought of you…" Noriko shut her eyes tight and took a steadying breath before reopening them and returning Peter's gaze with her watery one "I care about you, Peter. _So much._ But I can't let them hurt you. I _won't."_

"So don't," Peter replied almost instantly with an edge of desperation in his voice "But that doesn't mean we-we can't..."

"Have you been listening to Claire and I?" Noriko asked, Peter sighing but with the smallest of smiles playing on his lips.

"But you're forgetting; I'm _Spider-Man."_

"Oh my _god_ , _Peter-."_

"And you're the Black Sky," he cut her off, picking up steam in his response "And-And I know that they're this big, shadowy organization and we're just two people, but… We're _us._ We're the Black Sky and Spider-Man. Think of all of the things we've done as partners. Sure, none of them were as big as The Hand, but I think… I think we can handle it if it's both of us… If we're together."

Noriko's mouth opened as if she was going to respond but instead it just hung slightly agape as she shook her head and focused on a high point on the wall behind him. Her shiny eyes and the obvious skepticism in her expression would have weighed down any hope that Peter had at her agreeing, but there was something- a quirk of her lips maybe- that made him more optimistic than ever before. Noriko turned her eyes back to him and Peter felt his own lips begin to turn upwards despite the words she spoke.

"You are naïve."

"Yeah, I am," Peter agreed, Noriko snorting and rubbing her eyes in what seemed to be indulgent exasperation.

"I can't argue with that," she said, a true smile on her lips even though her eyes still watered.

"W-Wait, are you saying you're-you're-we…?" Noriko's smile becoming wider as Peter stumbled over his words and she gave a small shrug to show her approval. It was anti-climactic to say the least, but after the day- the _lives-_ the two of them had had, the less drama the better.

A soft sigh left Peter's lips, but he didn't feel relief or anything like that. Don't get him wrong, he was _happy,_ it was just… talking about this and actually being here were two totally different things. Admitting his feelings to a girl and agreeing to be something more than friends weren't things Peter had _ever_ done before and he found his anxiety taking over. What should he say? What should he do?

"Peter?" Noriko's voice was tentative and sent him into thinking of the million different ways he could be blowing this right now.

"Yeah?" He replied, his voice cracking despite his minds harsh command to stay even.

"Do you want to go out sometime?"

For a moment, it felt like his brain was buffering and he was incapable of thinking, doing, or saying anything in response to Noriko's question. All he could do was stare with his mouth slightly agape. Thankfully, it passed before he could start drooling and Peter snapped his mouth shut and replied.

"Yeah," his voice breaking so much that he had to clear his throat "I would- I would like that. A lot."

"Cool," Noriko said with a small smile that filled Peter's chest with warmth. He would never get used to seeing her lips, especially when they were turned upwards like that. It felt like something special; to see her both when they were covered by that scarf and when they curled out of happiness.

But, he knew for a _fact_ that it was special that he'd felt them against his own.

"Noriko?" Peter asked before he could think and cursing when he saw her look at him openly; he'd have to say it now "W-When we… When we kissed, was that okay?"

Noriko felt her eyes widen imperceptibly at the question and she had to search for her voice for a moment before answering.

"I'm sorry for freaking out, I didn't-."

"No, no," Peter interrupted, shaking his head vehemently "I didn't mean it like- don't apologize, okay? That's not something you should apologize for. I just meant, like, was it… _okay?"_

"Oh, like…" Noriko trailed off as she felt her own cheeks begin to pink for the first time during this conversation "Yeah, it was… Yeah."

Noriko's eyes dropped to where her hand was pulling at the bedspread and Peter found that the wall behind her was far more interesting than what most people would expect. It was quiet, but only for a moment and it was broken by Noriko once her tinted cheeks had cooled considerably.

"You're probably tired, I'll go so you can…"

"I'm not tired," Peter quickly protested as Noriko stood up to leave "You can- You can stay, I mean, unless you're tired, then-."

"I'm not tired," Noriko admitted, nervous but never in the way Peter was.

"Yeah, so, you can just stay, if-if you like," Peter offered, making her smile slightly when he rubbed the back of his neck in that familiar way.

"Yeah, okay," Noriko said, sitting back down on the bed opposite of Peter. It was probably good he stopped her; there were lots of other things to talk about. There were still a million different questions he could have about The Hand and they hadn't exactly caught up on the time they'd spent apart. Plus, they'd only _just_ met officially; Noriko had so many questions about Peter Parker. She knew he went to that genius school, so what was that like? What was the deal with that guy calling him Penis Parker? _Was_ he going to ask her to Homecoming before she said she was busy?

Before Noriko could open her mouth to say any of those things, though, Peter reached out and entangled his fingers with hers again. Those questions that seemed so pressing died in her throat without a thought as Noriko finally noticed the way Peter was looking at her. She hadn't been wrong before, when they… Peter was the sun, just like his nickname said. But, at some point she must've forgotten that he called her something too.

Peter smiled slightly, but the soft way his eyes lingered on her never wavered. The feeling of having someone look at her like this was something Noriko had never experienced before and caused her to feel a little bit uncomfortable, but she wasn't going to complain.

Noriko Temple had endured much worse than Peter Parker looking at her like she'd hung the moon.

.

The clock read nine twenty-seven when Claire stepped out of her bedroom with a yawn. The floor creaked under each step she took, but not loudly enough to rupture the silence that filled the apartment around her. Noriko was usually already up by now and making breakfast noises, but Claire found that kitchen hadn't been disturbed in any way since last night.

It honestly didn't surprise her that Noriko wasn't up yet; she'd had a long and emotionally draining day yesterday. She deserved to sleep in a little late after everything that had happened. Besides, Hell's Kitchen kept her up till all hours of the night and she could always use an extra few spent in bed, no matter the circumstances.

Claire leaned her back against the counter with the knowledge that soon enough, Noriko would come near silently walking into the kitchen. If the movement didn't wake her up, the coffee sure would. Especially since…

Claire frowned and stood up straight; suddenly aware that the girl she was in charge of was not where she should be. In fact, it looked like the couch she was supposed to be sleeping on hadn't even been fully made up.

The silence was once again accentuated by the soft sound of the floorboards as Claire crossed the apartment to the closed door that she'd past not moments ago. She winced at the squeak the doorknob made when she turned it, but she opened it despite the noise.

There was a brief moment of surprise which she quickly scolded herself for. Honestly, what else was she expecting?

A smile pulled on Claire's lips as she took in the scene in front of her. The fact that they were both on top of the covers let her know that neither of them had intended to fall asleep when they did, but she wasn't entirely certain if they'd been in that position when they were awake or if they'd managed to tangle themselves together in their sleep.

It didn't matter either way, though, because the nature of their relationship had definitely changed last night. The story of her past hadn't scared Peter off the way Noriko expected and Noriko's fear hadn't driven her to push Peter away the way Claire had worried. Somehow or another, everything had worked out.

Claire almost laughed; if someone had asked her that day when Noriko had come home saying she thought she'd made a friend, she never in a million years would've guessed this is where it would all end up. But, this was good; it was cheesy to say, but this felt right. Claire couldn't explain it, but it felt like this was just meant to be.

The Black Sky and Spider-Man.


	16. Watch Your Step, Kid

"And can I get sausage instead of bacon?"

The substitution was scribbled down onto the notepad quickly before the waitress sent the customer a small, lopsided smile.

"Coming right up."

Noriko's tennis shoes squeaks echoed throughout the mostly empty diner; it was never very busy at this time in the morning as a majority of Harlem was either at Sunday service or recovering from Saturday night revelries. The rip of the piece of paper off the pad was drowned out, though, by the sound of the grill nearby. Noriko sent a polite nod to the cook as she put the order in.

"There's a full one back here," he said, gesturing to her nearly empty pot. Noriko didn't respond with more than an appreciative smile before she walked to the swinging door and entered the kitchen. As the door swayed back and forth behind her, she could just make out the sound of the bell over the front door as a customer either arrived or left.

Noriko handed her pot to the dishwasher- a pimply kid that Deangelo would say hi to whenever he saw him, but wasn't really friends with- and as she turned to grab the fresh batch of coffee, the kitchen door swung open again.

"Sorry, Valeria, you're gonna have to make another pot," Noriko said with a teasing smile playing on her lips, not looking up from the task at hand.

"Noriko."

The woman she'd falsely identified had said her name quietly, but with an unease that made Noriko's body tense. Something was wrong.

"What is it?" She asked, turning to face Miss Soledad and taking in her tense expression.

"He didn't ask, but I think there's someone here to see you."

Noriko's hand tightened around the handle and despite the sounds of a running diner, the kitchen felt eerily silent. But, that moment ended abruptly when she returned the pot to the machine and turned towards the door; the teenager pushing out into the dining area with her back straight.

The sound of her shoes against linoleum didn't even register now; her mind was focused on the problem at hand. Her hands found her apron pockets as she stopped in front of a booth right in the center of the diner; the lower half of the customer's face obscured by the menu and the upper by a pair of sunglasses.

"Are the waffles gluten free?"

"No, but the muffins are."

He folded the menu up before he allowed it to slap loudly against the tabletop when he dropped it down. For the first time since she'd approached the booth, he looked up at her and smiled in a funny way; receiving no such greeting in return.

"Noriko," he said, pointing at her.

"Anthony."

His lips curled upwards at that, but Noriko didn't say anything more as she waited for him to presumably speak again. But, he didn't and instead wordlessly gestured to the open seat across from him. Only a second of hesitation followed before Noriko slid into the booth. Her back still straight even as she leaned against the vinyl; the only thing separating the billionaire and the waitress was the table with a briefcase resting on top.

Tony Stark's eyes slid off of her and he picked up the empty mug that Noriko herself had placed on the table and he held it out. She didn't move as she heard the familiar sound of thick heels against the floor, but she did send a quick side eye to Valeria when she poured the coffee. Noriko's countenance never changed, but there was a light in her eyes after she took in the stone expression her fellow waitress was wearing.

"Not what I was expecting," Stark said casually as his mug was filled "I knew you worked at a diner, but this is all way more _Alice_ than I expected."

"Was it Peter?"

Tony took a sip of his coffee and winced at the temperature before he replied.

"Funny enough, no. He never said a word about you."

Maybe he had meant for that to be taken in a different way, but the tiniest of smiles pulled at Noriko's lips.

"But, Karen had a lot to say."

"Karen?" Noriko asked, marking that name down while also keeping herself calm and collected.

"It's what Spider-Boy calls the AI in his suit," Stark expanded "She keeps an eye on him and reports back to me if there's anything noteworthy."

"Creepy," Noriko said bluntly, Stark actually chuckling appreciatively at that.

"Yeah, well, that kid needs someone to keep an eye on him," he said, his hand waving away her concerns "But you…"

He picked his phone up off the table and flicked his wrist slightly; a small holographic version of a video Noriko knew all too well appeared above it. She really only focused on the familiar dashcam footage for a moment before she looked through it to the man sitting across from her.

"Look at you," he said nonchalantly "Two armed policemen in eight seconds flat. You've got some impressive moves, and this is coming from someone who's spent nearly a decade watching Black Widow's morning routine."

"Why're you here?"

Noriko's words betrayed nothing as they cut through the strange tension that had been growing the longer the recording played. Tony hit the screen and it disappeared, but instead of answering her question, he slid the briefcase towards her. She made no move other than a raised eyebrow and he was forced to gesture casually to it.

"Open it."

After a moment more of nothing, Noriko leaned forward slightly and the click of the clasps was the only sound before the case opened and the contents were revealed to her.

"The tech is similar to Spiderling's," Stark explained as Noriko took in the black material with an unfathomable look in her eyes "Once it's on, you press the circle right there and it fits to your body. The hood stays slack, of course, and the mouth piece is right on top."

Noriko's fingertips ran across the black suit that still mostly rested in the case. She traced the rim of the hood down to the shallow V-neck and then over to the bracelet length sleeves. After a moment of her only studying the shiny material similar to the suit she vaguely recalled Peter wearing months ago, she let it go and fall back into the case. She turned her attention to the mask that slid out of the top of the case and weighed heavily in her hand.

"Made an executive decision; I think it's time for you to ditch the scarf for something a little bit more durable."

Noriko's fingers curled around the mask and felt the edge of the plastic dig into her skin enough to leave a red mark. It was molded to fit onto the lower half of her face with adjustable straps in the back to keep it in place over her mouth and nose. One of her thumbnails dragged along the front; its trip not smooth as it caught on each small ventilation cut in the mask.

"Gotta admit, the non-reaction is freaking me out a little bit," Stark said quickly "I'm just going to assume that's your thing. Emotionless badass. But, can I get a read? Blink once for like it, twice for I'm being held captive."

Noriko sent him a look before lowering her eyes back to the mask on last time before she returned it to its place. Once it was completely in, she shut the case and the sound of the clasps clicking seemed to echo through the diner.

But the soft scrape of the bottom of the case against linoleum when she slid it back across the tabletop seemed twice as loud.

Noriko could see a myriad of emotions pass through Stark's eyes in the moments between her movement and his response. The shock came first and had the most longevity, but it was quickly replaced by a hodgepodge of reactions: confusion, suspicion, anger. There were more, she was sure, she just didn't get the time to pick them all out.

"I'm sorry; do you understand what's happening right now? Is this a linguistic issue?" He asked, his voice taut with a layer of biting acerbity "I'm giving it to you, Gogo. This is yours."

Noriko placed her elbows on the table so she could lean in a little bit closer. Her voice was even and an average volume, but the way her lips molded around the words she spoke, not only was it crystal clear that she understood the situation perfectly, but that she was relishing in it.

"No thanks."

It was quiet for a second as Stark searched for a reply to Noriko's simple rebuttal; the billionaire opening and closing his mouth before he finally gathered himself and spoke.

"No thanks," he repeated "I'm giving you a suit with multi-millions of technology behind it, and you're saying no thanks?"

"You're not giving it to me if you reserve the right to take it back," Noriko said, her voice stable and strong "You're trying to _loan_ it to me."

Those words seemed to make something click in Stark's brain and he scoffed as he sat back; throwing his sunglasses down onto the table before crossing his arms and leveling Noriko with an unimpeded stare.

"I don't know what Parker told you I did, but I'm guessing he dramatized a little bit," Stark said before relaxing back into his nice guy body language "You're close to him, I know. But you know that he's new to all this; he makes mistakes. I'm sure he was upset after the ferry and our talk and told you all about it, but it turned out well. He needed that tough love, look where it got him; he beat the bad guy and saved the day."

"Peter did those things because that's who he is; that's the person he's _always_ been," Noriko said, not even the slightest note of hesitation in her voice "No sanctimonious speech pushed him into that."

"Sanctimonious," Stark repeated, unclear whether or not he was amused by the statement or the word choice "I didn't realize I roused such passionate feelings in you, Miss Temple."

"You don't," Noriko said shrugging "My emotions aren't about you, not really. It's about what you remind me of."

"And what's that?"

"What it feels like to be used."

Although the diner kept running as usual, something changed around the two people sitting in the booth in the center of the room. The pleasantries were over and the board had leveled out. No pretending this was anything but what it was. Who would blink first?

"It's hard to tell if you haven't experienced it, but I have, and I know what it looks like when the powerful use the young to fight their battles." Noriko's voice was still even, but anybody could tell there was something coming from deep inside of her behind these words; barely contained rage.

"This isn't 'nam," Stark said, some of the patronizing quality to his voice remaining but slowly starting to diminish "I'm not a government authorizing a shady war."

"No, you just work for one," Noriko said "And the first rule of shady wars? Never let the soldiers know what they're fighting for."

"It was a complex situation," Stark said after sighing, having immediately picked up on what she was saying and a tired feature joining the aforementioned qualities in his voice "I gave him the cliff notes, so what?"

"Manhattan to Berlin, that's a- what- ten hour flight?" Noriko asked rhetorically, a bite starting to work its way into her words "Could've been a bit more in depth than the cliff notes, I think. Or were you too worried that when he landed in Germany he would ask for a direct flight back?"

"What, are you saying that if Peter knew all the details he wouldn't have helped me out?" Stark asked incredulously, Noriko tilting her head as if his response interested her before she replied.

"I'm saying that when you showed up on the Parkers' doorstep, your plan wasn't to use the facts to get Peter to help you. You were banking on him seeing Tony Stark – billionaire Avenger—and doing anything you said," Noriko said before the very first smile appeared during this conversation, only for her lips to pull into some sardonic twist "How desperate you must've felt when you realized he was starting to see past the hero worship and at the real man underneath."

"And who would that be?" Stark asked, his voice picking up in sourness.

"Tony Stark. A man who spends his blood money on fancy suits so he can stop the problems he caused and pretend like he's making the world better for it while reaping the benefits of the destruction," Noriko said simply before placing her elbows on the table and leaning forward "There's nothing wrong with creating your own demons, Tony; it's when they start to terrorize everybody else that we have a problem."

"You talk a lot of shit for someone whose secret identity was just discovered," Stark said, nothing obviously changing in his voice, but Noriko able to tell she'd found something deep inside of him and those words she'd spoken had _twisted_ it "I've got _The New York Bulletin_ on speed dial. You must know how much they love this vigilante stuff."

Following his translucently veiled threat, there was a silence that made Stark straighten up; his opposition's lack of response could only be taken one way.

Then Noriko smiled.

And it wasn't like that scornful smirk she'd worn earlier – no— it was a fully stretched grin that seemed to take up most of her face. It wasn't the kind to neglect the rest of her features either; her eyes were alight with whatever it was driving her to this glee.

"Hey, guys!"

The sounds of the diner seemed to disappear as the customers raised their heads up from their breakfasts to take in the smiling woman. Only once Noriko was certain she had all eyes on her, she locked hers with Stark's and spoke; the proclamation clearly being relished by the one who gave it.

"I'm The Black Sky!"

Noriko's smile grew impossible wider as she watched the way Stark took in the way the room exchanged glances before returning their eyes back to their plates. No one seemed to care. And why would they? It was old news.

"Don't make an enemy out of me," Noriko advised, her voice quieter now but her delight remaining "You don't want that."

"Why?" Stark said, attempting flippancy even though anyone could tell this had thrown him off "Because you've got some weird community of people who like diner food keeping your secret?"

"Because I helped that girl in the back find a job when she was about to be evicted; because I helped that guy in the corner get out of an abusive relationship; because I helped the woman by the door find her daughter when she was abducted. Because I have helped every single person in this diner; even if it wasn't personal, I helped someone they know," Noriko said, her grin suddenly sliding off but her new expression only making her words even more unsettling "Because if I took this briefcase and bashed your head into a pulp on this shiny linoleum, every single one of them would say you came at me first."

"You think you could do that to me?"

"You know I could."

This time, the silence stuck.

Noriko stood and reached into her apron pocket; letting a few singles fall from her fingers and onto the table in front of Stark.

"Stay out of Harlem and Hell's Kitchen. There's no place for you here," she said before gesturing at the cash she'd dropped "That's for the coffee and the tip for Valeria."

Only once her sneakers were squeaking against the floor again did Stark speak, Noriko pausing and sighing; he just had to have the last word, didn't he?

"What's your plan when they come back?" He called, his voice challenging but clearly tinged with desperation "Should I just let Harlem and Hell's Kitchen go up in flames because a waitress told me to stay out?"

Noriko's lip twitched as she considered Stark's words. The ultimate downfall of the Avengers was never battling personality types or some accords; it would _always_ be an inflated sense of self-purpose.

"We don't need Avengers here, Tony."

Noriko didn't look back as she continued to walk away from the man sitting in the center booth of the diner. Her head held high and her voice strong as she spoke her parting words.

"We've got Defenders."


End file.
